


Family of Strays

by DiamondWings



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: And it will be, And later episodes of their daily life, Bc I'm super soft rn and need more of this kind of content, I'll sort the tags better at a later point when it's not 2am and I just want to get this up, M/M, Parents Woochan, The rest are children, This is how they end up with woochan, This was supposed to be fluff only, Who at some point end up as part of the woochan household, family au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2019-10-17 09:24:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 46,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17557706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondWings/pseuds/DiamondWings
Summary: Chan and Woojin didn't expect to end up with seven kids. They had planed to adopt one (1), and one only.These are the tales of how one child, over time, led to seven children, and what that brings with it. (A LOT of laundry, hearts overflowing with love and peanut butter in your hair, that's what!)





	1. Unlikeable

Chan and Woojin never expected to end up with seven kids. Technically, they weren’t all their own kids, either; legally, only four of them were their own adopted children. And even those four hadn’t been planned…

No, they had planned on having only one child, originally. And it had taken them quite a while to take the leap to go through with fulfilling that dream of theirs, too; at least measured on the duration of their relationship.

Chan and Woojin had met early in life, when they were still in their teens. They went to school together. One of them, Woojin, was training to become an idol at the time, while the other, Chan, was getting more and more determined on learning how to produce music by himself. Their shared love for music made them click pretty fast, and even though Woojin was always busy outside of school, they managed to become friends, and eventually more.

Woojin ended up not becoming an idol, but a solo artist, and Chan went to university to study music production. Despite not seeing each other much, despite their tender age, despite both being always on the verge of a mental breakdown, and despite of so many other odds against them, their relationship lasted through those trying years.

And then Chan graduated, and managed to land a job in the same entertainment company Woojin was in.

From then on, they managed to see each other far more often, and their relationship bloomed and consolidated at the same time. They were each other’s strength, the safe rock in the other’s stormy waters and the oil to fuel the other’s flame. They were inseparable, yet at the same time, somehow independent. Separately, they made it big in the entertainment industry, Woojin as the nation’s darling ballad king, Chan as renowned and infamous composer and producer of the decade’s most successful bops.

Nearing the end of their twenties, they were well-off enough to be able to decide to slow down a little. And finally, after all those years of nights spent laying in bed together, staring at the ceiling of whatever served as bedroom at the time and sharing their dreams with each other in hushed whispers and sleepy murmurs, they were able to start making those dreams reality.

They got married, and managed to buy an actual house for themselves. They went on an extended honeymoon, travelling the world together, lazily, going wherever the mood struck them in the moment, for three months. Upon coming back, they got two cats, whom they spoiled rotten, and a tank full of pretty little fish - which unfortunately didn’t last too long, mysteriously disappearing one by one over the course of no more than a month; the culprits were never proven guilty, and the tank wandered into the attic until further notice.

But there was one thing, unmentioned by both of them for the longest time now that they were actually working on fulfilling their dreams, and yet it was the one thing they both wanted the most: a child.

Eventually, they decided to break the silence, independently, coincidentally planning to bring the subject up to the respective other the exact same day. And then, the preparations began: gathering information about adoption processes and requirements, then working to meet those requirements, and finally, finally finding a child.

They decided they wanted to adopt a baby, both agreeing that while it would be hard for them, given they had little experience with children and next to none with babies, it wouldn’t make them any different from biological parents with their first child. And if they were going to be parents, they might as well get the whole experience.

After what felt like decades of planning, the big day finally came that they would meet a bunch of possible candidate babies. They arrived at the institution mid-morning, and were greeted by what was easily described as a mess. Clearly, it was a bad day at the institution, and the workers were in over their heads. They had half a mind to suggest coming back another day, but ultimately were too scared to actually make that suggestion lest it reflect negatively on them and their prospects of becoming parents. So, they stayed, smiling politely while a clearly overworked lady informed them she currently didn’t have the time to show them the way, but if they walked up two floors and took the corridor to the left, they would find someone waiting for them behind the door with the little blue whales.

Woojin and Chan looked at each other with a bit of apprehension, but ended up linking hands and started up the stairs. They went up two floors, but the hallways, both of them, didn’t look like there would be any doors with blue whales on them once they stepped off the landing. Still, they went down the one to the left, hoping to find the indicated door somewhere further down.

What they found instead was a little boy shooting out from behind a bend in the hallway and running straight into Woojin’s legs. Woojin almost stumbled, barely managing to catch himself and the boy before they fell.

“Whoa there, little man! Where are you going so fast?!” Woojin laughed, but the boy didn’t answer. Instead, he clung to Woojin’s legs, burying his face against his thigh, and it only took a few seconds for Woojin to realize the boy was crying. As soon as Woojin’s face morphed to one of concern, Chan understood, too, and crouched down next to his husband to be at eye level with the crying boy; provided he let go of Woojin’s legs any time soon and actually looked at him.

“Hey, you ok? Are you hurt?”

The boy shook his head, not lifting his face away from Woojin’s leg. Woojin, instinctively, took to petting the boy’s hair in what he hoped was a comforting manner, and the boy only clung tighter to Woojin.

“Well, that’s good. Are you lost?” Chan tried again, but again the boy shook his head, and kept clinging to Woojin.

“Hmm… Can you tell us what’s wrong?”

The boy sobbed heart-wrenchingly, his little hands gripping the fabric of Woojin’s pants tighter, but he lifted his face away from his leg just enough to be able to speak.

“Wei-Wei-… Wei-Wei sa-said I’ll ne-ever fi-nd a n-new fam-mily… B-bec-cause I’m too- too old.”

In that moment, if the child hadn’t let out another sob accompanied by a loud wail, the sound of Chan’s heart falling to the floor and breaking into a million pieces would have been audible to everyone on that floor.

“That’s not very nice of Wei-Wei. I’m sure you will find a family, too. You are not too old!” Chan tried to reassure the boy, who only kept shaking his head and buried his face against Woojin’s legs again.

‘What do we do?!’ Chan mouthed at Woojin, somewhat desperate, when nothing he tried seemed to calm the boy down. Woojin didn’t have time to answer as suddenly a worker rounded the corner the boy had come from, too.

“Changbin! What have we told you about running off into the hallways? Stop bothering these gentlemen and go back to your room!” The woman scolded, and Changbin’s grip on Woojin’s legs turned vice-like, so much so that Woojin flinched.

“Ah… He’s not bothering us, actually…” Woojin lied, trying for a polite smile, while Chan instinctually shifted to stand slightly between the boy and the worker. He didn’t like the tone she was using with the obviously very upset child.

“I’m sorry, and who are you, actually?” She asked, ignoring Woojin’s answer but addressing the both of them.

“Uh… We were told to come up here to find someone who was supposed to guide us to meet the children we might possibly want to adopt… We have an appointment for ten o’clock?” Chan explained, and the worker nodded distractedly.

“Right, right… Please excuse the chaotic state we are in-… And Changbin, would you let go of that man’s legs! Now! Please excuse us for him, too, he is nothing but trouble ever since he came in-…!” She muttered the end, approaching them with sure steps to take the boy’s hands and yank them off Woojin’s pant legs.

The boy, Changbin, ducked, wriggling his hands out of her grip expertly, and darted around her and Chan to cling to the back of Chan’s legs instead.

“Changbin! You let go right this second and go back to your room! Oh, you don’t want to?! I suppose you don’t want to have dessert, again, either. Not today and not for the next five years of your life, apparently!” She threatened, but Changbin didn’t seem fazed by the threat of no dessert. Chan, however, was appalled by how carelessly she suggested the amount of time that the boy would be spending in this institution, when that was clearly such a sore spot for the kid.

He could only stand helplessly when the woman pried the boy away from him, too, holding him by the wrist tightly before half yanking, half dragging him away from them.

“Well, if you are here to meet the children, come this way, please!” She addressed Chan and Woojin again, ignoring the sobbing Changbin who was desperately trying to free his wrist from her grip again.

In all honestly, both Woojin and Chan wanted nothing more than leave this place and never come back in that moment. They stayed, though, and followed the woman into what looked like a big play room with about ten children.

“Kids, visitors!” She announced into the room, then stepped back to usher Chan and Woojin inside. Immediately, silence fell over the room, the previously playing kids straightening up where they stood, some trying to pat down their wrinkled clothes, others trying to sort their hair in an attempt to look presentable, while some simply stood and stared at the two men, potential future fathers, with what looked like a dying flicker of hope that had been squashed too many times in their short lives in their eyes.

It was an awkward situation, one neither Chan nor Woojin were remotely prepared for. In mutual, silent understanding, they didn’t alert the worker that they had actual come to adopt a baby, though. Instead, they decided to make the best out of the situation, and tried to engage with the children in the room, who all seemed very eager to present themselves from their best side, while silently, covertly competing against each other for their attention with a ferocity that honestly scared the both of them.

Woojin and Chan both heard the words of the woman as she dragged Changbin away from the room, though, sternly telling him that he was on time-out until lunch, and if he so much as moved a finger-width from his spot until then he would be on time-out until dinner. It was about then that Chan stopped counting how often his heart had broken that morning.

When they left an hour later, meeting the director of the institution, they both felt as if they had been beaten raw; at least their emotions had. And still, they agreed to come back at the same time, next week.

When they did, the first thing they did was once again meet the director of the institution. He asked if there had been a child they had felt a special connection with and whom they would like to meet again.

There could only be one possible answer for both of them: “Changbin.”

The director had looked at them as if they had told him flying pigs were circling his ceiling-lights.

“That brat? Why?!”

And that was exactly why. Not that they could tell him that.

“He was the one we felt the strongest connection to, even in the short time we had with him. And we would like to see him again, to gauge if it was a one-time thing, or not.” Woojin took to trying to explain, covertly stepping on Chan’s foot to remind him to stay quiet, and to not spit in the director’s face; neither with words, not with actual saliva.

It took a little convincing, since apparently Changbin was in time-out again at the moment, but they were allowed to see him eventually. They were told to wait in an almost barren room, with only a few toys, pieces of paper that were already drawn on and a handful of crayons where most lacked the tip. After a while, a worker appeared, once again almost dragging Changbin with him into the room.

Changbin was clearly reluctant, but once he spotted Chan and Woojin, he froze. It was clear he recognized them.

“Hey, Changbin.” Chan greeted warmly, and Changbin’s eyes fixed on him. “Do you remember us?”

Slowly, Changbin nodded, and then averted his gaze.

“You’re the one… Who told me I will have a family…” He whispered quietly.

Chan smiled a pained smile.

“That’s right.”

The boy shook his head slightly.

“But I can’t…” He swallowed thickly.

“And why is that?” Woojin asked, crouching down to be at eye level with Changbin, and Chan soon followed him.

“Because, I-… I’m too old. And- and not lika-… like-… liable? No-…”

“Do you mean ‘likeable’?” Chan tried, and Changbin nodded.

“Oh Changbin, that’s not true! You’re not too old, and most definitely not unlikeable! Who told you things like that?!”

Changbin shrugged his small shoulders.

“Everyone.”

“Then ‘everyone’ doesn’t know anything, apparently. Because we liked you even though we only talked to you for a few minutes. And that means you must be very likeable.”

Changbin looked up from the floor, fixing Woojin with wide eyes.

“You do?”

Woojin and Chan nodded in unison.

“We do. And we would really like to get to know you better, and for you to get to know us better, to see if we can get along fine. How does that sound to you?”

Changbin’s jaw fell open for a long moment, then he forcefully snapped it shut again.

“I like you! I do! We can get along now, can’t we?!”

Chan and Woojin laughed at that, and a spark of light stole itself into Changbin’s tired eyes.

*#*#*#*

Woojin and Chan were absolutely sure Changbin was the right child for them after the fourty-five minutes they spent playing with him in that barren room, but they were still asked to come back for five more meetings with Changbin alone, two with a counselor present, and one with a whole bunch of people observing them.

At the end of each meeting, Changbin was more desperate than the one before, clinging to either Chan or Woojin and begging them not leave him behind again by the end, until Woojin was about ready to just tuck him under his jacket and smuggle the child out, and Chan was a hair-width away from tearing someone a new one for making the child suffer unnecessarily in that manner.

Finally, after months of uncertainty, they were eventually allowed to take Changbin home with them. Neither of the three could fully believe it. It felt like a dream. A dream, and the first step of a long adventure.

 

 


	2. Sleepless

 Woojin, Chan and Changbin were elated when the day finally came that Changbin would come home with them. They had been waiting for this for so long, and barely dared believe it would ever actually happen at some points. But finally, the big day came, and they went and picked Changbin up from the institution.

Like always when they visited, Changbin ran up to them, hugging whoever he managed to reach first tight and not letting go for a long time; this time, it happened to be Chan. He was extremely cuddly, Woojin and Chan found, since he barely let go of them during the whole duration of their visits; but apparently that happened only with them.

It had been the decisive factor, in the end, that tipped the scales in their favour: that Changbin seemed to trust them more than anyone else, seeking skinship with them from the beginning and seemingly opening up to them quickly. If that hadn’t been the case, they were told, the board would have decided against letting them adopt a child that was as difficult as Changbin apparently was, inexperienced in the roles of parents as they were. In this particular case, they made an exception, though, but let everyone involved know that their probational period had been doubled, and so would the routine checks and interviews to see if Changbin really found a good home with them.

As they left the institution with Changbin in tow for the first time, though, all thoughts about probational periods and child care inspections were far from their minds. Changbin was walking between them, holding both Chan and Woojin’s hands tight as they led him to their car, Woojin carrying a single backpack that contained all of Changbin’s personal belongings.

Upon arriving home for the first time, Changbin was overwhelmed by the size of the house, clearly intimidated by its vastness, and he clung to Chan tightly as they showed him around, and afterwards. It was near impossible to get him to let go for the first few hours, and only when Chan pleaded with him because he really, _really_ needed the bathroom, Changbin eventually let go. He didn’t physically attach himself again to him when Chan came back, but he still stuck close to them for the rest of the day. Chan and Woojin didn’t mind, of course, yet they became slightly worried when night came and Changbin valiantly fought to stay awake, just so he didn’t have to go to bed.

“I’m not tired!” He repeated for the umpteenth time when either of the adults suggested he go to bed. His body betrayed him by forcing a big yawn out of him, though, and he pouted.

“Mhm, you really aren’t tired…” Chan smiled teasingly at Changbin, and Changbin shook his head, small fists balling at his sides.

“I’m not! Can we play another game?”

Woojin and Chan shared a look, deciding one more round of snakes and ladders wouldn’t hurt. Halfway through it, Changbin’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier, his blinks becoming slower, until they stopped completely, and his head lowered slowly. Eventually, he tipped over the rest of the way, startling awake when his forehead touched the table.

“Not tired!” He exclaimed, sitting up straight suddenly, but Woojin and Chan had seen everything, and he knew they had from the looks they were giving him.

“That’s enough for today, Changbinnie. Come on, bed time now.”

Changbin didn’t protest at Chan’s words this time, slipping off his chair instead with a massive pout.

“You don’t have to sleep immediately, Woojinnie can read you a story first if you want. He has a really nice reading voice.”

Changbin hesitated, looking at Woojin for confirmation, who nodded.

“I’d… I’d like that…” He admitted then.

“Ok. Let’s go wash up and get changed, while Woojin goes and sees if he can find a good book to read, ok?”

Changbin complied, and soon he was tucked in, with Woojin sitting next to him, book in his hands. Chan’s heart swelled with love and happiness as he watched the scene while slowly slinking out of the room after bidding Changbin good night. He didn’t make it far before Changbin called him back, though.

“Chan?” He sounded so small and hesitant.

“Hm?”

“Do you have to go already?”

Chan tilted his head questioningly.

“I don’t _have_ to; why?”

“Can you stay… a little longer, then?”

Chan wasn’t about to protest, sitting in the chair belonging to Changbin’s new desk, where Changbin could see him. Changbin looked content, and Woojin started reading. The child tried valiantly to focus on the story and stay awake, but it was no use. The tiredness weighing him down, coupled with the comfortable warmth of the bed and Woojin’s soothing voice, worked against him, and in no time, he was out like a light.

Quietly, carefully, Woojin and Chan slipped out of the room, turning off the lights as they went.

 

 

Changbin turned out to be an uncomplicated kid, for the most part; almost worryingly so. He wasn’t loud, wasn’t fussy, ate his vegetables, did what he was being told to do and didn’t go against what he was told not to do. That was, until it was bed-time. He didn’t outright refuse, but he did try a whole arsenal of tricks every night to either distract them from sending him to bed, or to drag it out as long as possible.

“Why do you think he is so against going to bed at night?” Chan eventually asked Woojin when they were both already lying in bed themselves, one evening after Changbin had managed to stay up particularly late.

Woojin hummed pensively, thinking about if for a while.

“At first, I thought it was because he doesn’t want to be alone and away from us…”

Chan turned to lie on his side, so he was facing Woojin.

“At first?”

“At first. But he’s good with being on his own now. He plays alone, reads alone, sleeps alone in the afternoon, without a fuss…”

“You’re right… So, where does that leave us?”

“I’m not sure. My guess is it’s something to do with the night, specifically. Have you noticed how tired he always looks when we get up in the mornings?”

Chan nodded, frowning sadly.

“Could it be nightmares?”

“I don’t know. But we should talk to him. Considering his personality in general, I’m sure he isn’t being fussy for no reason.”

And talk they did.

The very next day, when bed time came and Changbin once again started trying his best to avoid having to go.

“Changbinnie… Come here, please.” Chan sighed, waving Changbin over and patting the couch next to him to invite him to sit down. Changbin lowered the brush with which he was brushing one of the cats, sensing that something was off. Slowly, he got up and went to sit next to Chan, eyes cast down and a tenseness in his small shoulders that no child should carry with them. Chan felt terrible for being the cause of it.

“Binnie, I’m not mad at you, and you’re not in trouble, ok?” He started softly, rubbing the boy’s back comfortingly. Changbin nodded slowly but didn’t untense. Chan looked around semi-frantically to find Woojin, begging him to come over and help him with his gaze when he found him. Woojin hurried over, crouching in front of Changbin to be in his line of sight. Changbin held his gaze with something that looked like fear still in his eyes.

“You really aren’t in any trouble, baby. Channie and I are just curious about something.”

Changbin’s expression became questioning.

“We’ve noticed you really don’t seem to like going to bed at night, and we would like to know why that is.”

Changbin inhaled sharply, his gaze looking panicked suddenly.

“N-no! It’s-… No, I don’t...! I-... I’ll go to bed! I’ll go-…” He jumped up, ready to dart off, but Woojin stopped him, catching his hand as he started past him.

“Binnie, wait!” He pleaded, and Changbin stopped in his tracks, still looking haunted.

“Please, talk to us. We know something is wrong, and we want to fix it. But to do that, we need to know what it is that is bothering you.”

Changbin bit his lip, letting Woojin guide him back to sitting on the couch, albeit a bit reluctantly.

“I’m-… There is nothing wrong… Please, I-… I won’t stall anymore, I promise…” He whispered, and Chan couldn’t help but wrap his arm around the boy again, pulling him in slightly. Changbin didn’t resist, turning willingly to bury his face into Chan’s side. Chan finished wrapping him up in his arms, holding him tight.

“It’s not you stalling and staying up past your bedtime that is worrying us, Binnie. We want you to feel safe and happy with us, and we’re worried that we are overlooking something important.” Chan explained, and Woojin continued.

“We’ve been noticing that you look very tired in the mornings, and sleep during the afternoon. And… We’re wondering if you are getting enough sleep at night, or if there is something keeping you awake, and if there is anything we can do to help.”

Changbin’s hands balled in Chan’s shirt, holding on tight, and he shook his head against Chan’s side, despair lacing his voice.

“I do sleep. There’s nothing-… You don’t need to do anything. Please…”

Chan and Woojin exchanged a look over Changbin’s head, both picking up on the same thing in the way Changbin tried to convince them. For now, they decided to give in, though, not wanting to distress the child any further.

“Ok, baby. If you’re sure about that, we’ll leave it, for now. But if you ever can’t sleep for some reason or if there is anything we can do to help, you let us know, ok?”

Changbin peeked out of his hiding place slowly, leaning into Chan’s touch as he carded his hand through his hair comfortingly. He didn’t answer the question, and that, too, didn’t go over Chan and Woojin’s heads.

“Shall we go get ready for bed, then?” Chan asked, and Changbin nodded, getting up to lead the way.

“Can I still… Can I still have a bedtime story?” Changbin asked quietly while Chan put some toothpaste on his toothbrush.

“Of course, baby. We all want to know what the little astronaut is going to do next, after all!” Chan smiled, and Changbin echoed it with a relieved little smile of his own. There wasn’t anywhere near as much dejection in his expression while he brushed his teeth as there had been when they’d first come into the bathroom, and Chan was relieved.

Soon, Changbin was tucked in, snuggled against Woojin’s side while he read him the obligatory bedtime story, and quickly fell asleep. Chan and Woojin stayed with him a while longer, but the child was fast asleep and didn’t show any signs of waking up anytime soon; not even after Woojin had gotten up and left Changbin alone in his bed.

“That didn’t go particularly well, now did it?” Chan sighed, referring to the talk they’d tried to have with Changbin earlier, while curling up against Woojin’s side in pretty much the same way Changbin had, when they went to bed, too.

“It could have gone better, yeah… But it could also have gone worse. And we did find out something…”

Chan tilted his head up, propping his chin up on Woojin’s chest to be able to look at him.

“We now know for sure there is something he isn’t telling us. Now we just need to find out what it is, and _why_ he isn’t telling us.”

Chan sighed, shaking his head before laying it back down on Woojin’s chest.

“’Just’. You’re a funny one…”

Woojin chuckled, ruffling Chan’s hair.

“We will find out what it is, love. I know we will. And we will fix it.”

Woojin had good reason to be confident; he’d managed to figure out and help fix Chan’s problem with sleep, too, after all. He was basically a pro.

Changbin would come to put all that experience to a test, though.

 

 

It was obvious Changbin wasn’t sleeping well, looking more and more tired every day, even though he stopped trying to stall when bedtime came.

The first inspection from a childcare worker rolled around, and it was obvious the worker picked up on Changbin’s tired state. They even asked Changbin about it, but Changbin told them everything was fine. They made a note on their clip-board, one that Changbin didn’t understand but that he feared might be a negative one.

It took until the next day for Chan and Woojin to realize something had gone wrong during the visit from the childcare worker, Changbin looking stressed out of his mind hours before bed-time rolled around.

“Binnie, you’re so distracted today… What’s wrong?” Woojin tried gently when Changbin got lost in thought again while he was actually trying to practice his reading with Woojin.

Changbin sat up straight, clutching his book tightly.

“Nothing! Everything’s fine!”

Woojin sighed softly.

“If you say so… You know you can always tell me or Chan if there is something troubling you, right? Whatever it is, we’ll find a solution for it. All we want is for you to be happy.”

Changbin nodded, but he didn’t meet Woojin’s gaze as he did so.

“I _am_ happy…”

Woojin wanted to believe him, but he knew there was something off about Changbin, something he couldn’t figure out, and it was slowly but surely driving him insane that he couldn’t figure out what was troubling his child.

 

 

By the time the third inspection rolled around, Chan and Woojin looked almost as frazzled as Changbin. And then, by the end of the worker’s visit, the dreaded talk happened.

“I’ve noted this down on both of my prior visits, and it’s apparent once again: Changbin looks abnormally tired and not well-rested at all. I’d chalked it up to him having trouble adjusting at first, but he’s been with you for a while now and trouble adjusting to the new environment doesn’t really work as an explanation anymore. Surely you have noticed something?”

Chan and Woojin sat stiffly, nodding at their question.

“Of course, we have. We are aware Changbin must have trouble sleeping at night, and we are still working on figuring out what his problem exactly is. He falls asleep at a reasonable time just fine, and whenever we check during the night he is peacefully asleep. He hasn’t told either of us anything about potential nightmares or not being able to sleep at any point.”

The worker noted that down, then looked up at both of them with a serious look.

“You have to figure this out. We cannot have a child in an environment that is detrimental to their physical and mental health; and lack of sleep affects both.”

They nodded in unison, their faces perfect masks of calm and collectedness, betraying nothing about their inner turmoil.

Once the worker left, Changbin was more stressed than ever. He looked close to crying, hiding in a corner with a book and rejecting all offer to play or interact in any other way, even though he clearly wasn’t focused on the book: he didn’t even hold it the right way up!

When dinner-time rolled around, Chan finally managed to coax Changbin to join them at the table, and afterwards he clung to Woojin much in the same way he had clung to Chan when they had first brought him in. Him and Woojin curled up on the couch, reading Changbin’s book together until it was late, and Chan declared it was time to get ready for bed.

Changbin didn’t try to stall, but his stress-levels visibly sky-rocketed. He made it through washing up, changing into pyjamas and brushing his teeth, but when he climbed into bed for his bedtime story, it finally became too much and he broke down in tears. Woojin, already sitting on the edge of the bed, ready to read his story to him, quickly scooped him up and held him close.

Changbin wept heart-wrenchingly in Woojin’s arms, and Chan didn’t look far behind as he watched helplessly while Woojin tried to comfort the boy.

“Binnie, baby, shh… It’s ok… I got you. I’m here, and Channie is here, too. We’re here and we’re going to keep you safe, ok? You’re ok, baby. It’s all ok…”

Changbin shook his head vehemently after a short while, though, not looking up from where he had his face buried in Woojin’s chest.

“They will take me away…!” He wailed between sobs, breaking his parents’ hearts.

“They won’t, Changbinnie…” Woojin tried to soothe, but Changbin refused to listen.

“They will! I heard them! They will come and take me away again, because I am fussy and can’t sleep!”

It dawned on Chan and Woojin in that moment that Changbin must have eavesdropped on them, but for now they were too stunned by the fact Changbin had admitted that he couldn’t sleep, and focused on trying to soothe the boy’s fear of having to leave them.

“Binnie, they won’t take you away just like that. We have time to figure this out, and we will. It will be fine, we just have to find out why you can’t sleep and fix it, so you can sleep peacefully again.” Chan tried to console him, but Changbin only buried his face deeper against Woojin’s chest, still crying unconsolably.

“I don’t want to be fussy, I promise…! I want to be good, so you won’t send me away again! I don’t want to be a bother…” His words were barely distinguishable between hick-ups and sobs, and muffled against Woojin’s chest, but Chan and Woojin managed to get the gist of it.

“Oh, Binnie, sweetheart… Hey, it’s ok, we are here to help you with anything you struggle with. That’s what parents are for! We won’t send you back just because you need help with something; we want you to stay with us forever, no matter what happens!” Woojin explained calmly, carding his hand through Changbin’s hair while holding him close.

Changbin kept crying, though, and it took a lot more reassuring words and Woojin keeping him wrapped up in his arms for him to calm down. It probably would have taken much longer if he hadn’t been so exhausted already, too, but as it was, his sobs eventually turned to sniffles, which became occasional hick-ups. Only at that stage did Woojin manage to gently pry Changbin’s face away from his chest far enough that Chan could come in to wipe it clean.

Changbin let it happen, almost apathic, but when Chan moved away to throw out the dirtied tissues, Changbin whined, reaching out for Chan with weak arms.

Chan dropped the tissues instantly, sitting on the bed next to Woojin where Changbin could hold on to him, too, from where he was curled against the older.

“I’m here, I’m not leaving, it’s ok.” He took Changbin’s hand, which was clasped into his jumper, into his own, and Changbin let got of the fabric without any struggle, his hand lying limply in Chan’s. “Oh, baby, you’re tired now, huh?”

Changbin frowned slightly, and Chan cupped his face gently, caressing his hot and still a little damp cheeks with his thumb.

“Of course, you are; and that’s ok, Binnie. It’s late and it’s been a long day, and you can go to sleep anytime now. Do you think you could tell us why exactly you have such trouble sleeping at night, though? We really, really want to help you, and it’s not a bother at all for us.”

Out of Changbin’s line of sight, Woojin frowned slightly at Chan, and Chan could see the judgement in his gaze, but he withstood and shrugged barely noticeably in answer. It probably wasn’t the nice way, to use Changbin’s exhausted and vulnerable state right now to try and get to the bottom of what troubled the child, but if it helped them solve the issue in the long run, it would be a win for all of them.

Changbin whined quietly, resting his head back against Woojin’s chest, but he didn’t hide his face again. He also held onto Chan’s hand, squeezing as tightly as his small fingers allowed.

“I can’t sleep well…”

Chan hummed, understanding, and caressed the back of Changbin’s hand in his gently.

“I know baby… Why can’t you sleep well, though?”

Changbin took a deep shaky breath, and while he didn’t hide his face, he still averted his gaze shamefully.

“I’m scared…”

“Oh? What is it that you’re scared of?”

Changbin didn’t answer immediately, chewing on his lip for a moment, before continuing with a very quiet voice.

“I always… always get bad dreams, and then I wake up and it’s dark and I don’t like it. I… I’m scared that… that you will leave while it’s dark… That everyone will leave while it’s dark and I can’t see it and I’ll be all alone again…”

Woojin and Chan held their breath while Changbin talked, with his small and broken, fearful voice, with lots of pauses and full of uncertainty. It broke their hearts that judging by the way Changbin talked, it wasn’t just a random fear he had, but rather something that had happened to him before and that had left deep scars on his little heart.

“Oh, sweetie… I promise you will never be alone again, if we have any say in the matter. We’ll never just leave you behind! We couldn’t, ever, because we love you a lot. We’ll always be here for you.” Woojin murmured against the top of Changbin’s head, holding him close again.

“Woojinnie is right. We’ll never leave you behind all on your own. Of course, sometimes one of us has to go somewhere early in the morning, but if you want to, we’ll always come tell you before we go and let you know when we’ll be back from now on. And one of us is always going to be here with you!”

Changbin’s expression was full of doubt as he looked from one to the other, and it was clear that just a few words would never be able to erase the boy’s fears; not that either of them expected that.

“Tell you what, baby: tomorrow, we are going to work out a plan so you can always make sure that we are still there and you’re not alone, and we’ll do something against the pesky darkness at night, too. And tonight, we’re going to have a sleepover! How does that sound?” Chan suggested, and Changbin perked up a little, looking up at Chan.

“A sleepover?”

“Mhm. Would you like that?”

Changbin tilted his head pensively, his gaze full of doubt but also a little curiosity.

“Where?”

“Well, we’re all tired now; otherwise I’d suggest we build a blanket fort in the living room and sleep there. As it is, what do you think of just coming over and sleep with us in our room tonight?”

Changbin’s eyes widened.

“I- I can?”

“Of course, baby.”

“B-but… Isn’t that-… It’s y-your room, I…” He frowned deeply, something clearly bothering him about that fact.

“What is it that’s confusing you, hm?” Woojin interjected gently, once again brushing Changbin’s hair out of his face, and the boy tilted his back up to look at him before averting his gaze once more.

“But… Children are never supposed to go into grown up’s rooms…”

“Oh…” It must have been a rule at the institution that was hard-wired into Changbin. Come to think of it, Changbin had really never been in their room before, not to Chan’s knowledge; a look at Woojin’s pensive expression told him that he must have come to the same conclusion. He had never even come knocking to find them there… It began to dawn on Chan that there were probably a lot more boundaries that had been imposed on Changbin that were more harmful to the child than not, and that they had to pay more attention to him to find out about and lift them. For now, he would start with the ban on their room.

“Well. Children are not supposed to make a ruckus in grown-ups’ rooms or leave their toys strewn around there and use the grown-up’s things without asking; that is true. But when a child is invited into a room, then it’s of course ok to go there. And whenever a child needs to find a grown-up who is in their room, they can go in there, too. Whenever you need me or Woojin -or even if you don’t need us, but just want to see us, or have a question, or want cuddles- you can always come looking for us in our room. Day and night, even when we are sleeping. We won’t get mad at you, and you won’t be in any trouble for it.”

Changbin looked at him with eyes full of doubt, and Chan ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it softly.

“I promise, baby. Our room is never off limits for you.”

Changbin gave him a doubtful look, but there was hope shining tentatively in his gaze as well. He wasn’t able to keep his doubtful look up for long, though, as he was interrupted by a big, shaky yawn.

Woojin chuckled softly, cuddling Changbin closer to himself.

“Shall we go to bed, Binnie? Do you want to have a sleepover with us?”

Changbin turned to hide his face against Woojin’s chest again, but he nodded.

“Alright then, baby. Wanna bring a plushie with you?”

Changbin nodded again, looking up from his hiding place to point at a bunny plushie next to Chan, which Chan promptly picked up.

“Mr Hops gets to come with us? Alright. Shall we?”

Changbin nodded, but wound his tiny arms around Woojin as well as he could, determined not to let go. Woojin got the message, adjusting his hold on the boy to get up with him, carrying him.

Chan led the way to his and Woojin’s bedroom, Woojin following close behind with Changbin.

“Alright, baby. Woojin and I have to get ready for bed first, too. I’m going to go ahead while Woojin stays with you, and then Woojin goes when I come back, ok?”

Changbin clearly didn’t want to be without either of them, but he saw the necessity and nodded, although reluctantly.

Woojin did a great job distracting Changbin while Chan was gone, though, getting him to help making their bed more comfortable, and in no time Chan was back. Then, Chan took over, exaggerating tucking Mr Hopps in, and then proceeding in the same way with Changbin, and ultimately himself, before Woojin climbed into bed on Changbin’s other side.

As soon as he laid down, Changbin stretched a hand out to hold Woojin’s, tugging at it to get him to scoot closer, so he was wedged between both of them and comfortably able to feel their presence at all times.

“Do you still want a bedtime story?” Woojin asked quietly, tracing his thumb in comforting circles over the back of Changbin’s hand still holding his own. Changbin nodded, looking up at Woojin pleadingly from where he was snuggled deeply into the covers.

Woojin thought for just a moment before starting to tell a story he made up on the spot. He had no idea where he was going with his story, but that didn’t really matter in the end, since Changbin fell asleep not even five minutes into the story.

Chan looked up at Woojin with a small smile when Woojin noticed the boy was asleep, too, and stopped telling his story. Woojin smiled back softly, trailing his gaze over his hand Changbin was still holding (or more like, the two fingers he could comfortably hold onto with his small hand), and the spot where Changbin’s other hand was firmly clutching onto Chan’s sleep shirt. His smile grew a little sad.

“So, separation anxiety, huh…”

Chan sighed quietly.

“I feel like we should have figured that one out sooner…”

Woojin hummed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“He was hiding it far too well… It makes me worried about what kind of other things he’s hiding, too. I want him to know he can trust us and open up to us about what is troubling him, not suffering in silence…”

With a soothing look, Chan reached out over Changbin between them to lay a comforting hand on Woojin’s own, the same one Changbin was holding onto, stroking them both comfortingly.

“One battle at a time, Wooj. For now, we’ll find a way to work around his separation anxiety, and everything else we’ll see to in due time.”

 

They slept in until late the next day. Or, well, Changbin did, but neither Woojin nor Chan had the heart to risk getting up and having Changbin wake up without them both there with him. So, they took the chance to laze in bed until late; until Changbin woke up, too.

When he did, Changbin woke up with a start, looking around frantically, but quickly found both Chan and Woojin right next to him, and relaxed. He let himself sink back into the pillows, relaxing his hold on both Chan and Woojin’s shirts that he had reached out for frantically again, but didn’t let go fully just yet.

His frenzy had alerted the two grown-up’s to him being awake, though, and they peered over to him with a mix of worry and fondness.

“Morning, sweetie. How are you?” Changbin chuckled, taking Changbin’s small hand in his own and pressing a soft kiss against his knuckles once he got him to let go of his shirt.

Changbin mumbled something unintelligible, shaking his head before turning to bury his face against Chan’s chest.

Behind him, Woojin chuckled, sorting through his unruly bed-hair gently.

“Still sleepy, our Binnie?”

Changbin shook his head again, not looking up and instead tugging on Woojin’s shirt to get him to come closer.

“Do you want cuddles? Is that it?” Woojin laughed quietly, following Changbin’s demand to come closer, and proceeded to wrap his arms both around Changbin and Chan. He took the chance to leave a tender kiss on his husband’s lips in the process, too, before moving to kiss the top of Changbin’s head.

The position Woojin had to lie in was awkward and a little uncomfortable, but it made Changbin beam up at both of them contently, so he endured it gladly.

“Now that you are awake, what do you say to breakfast?” Chan tried after a while, once he noticed the way Woojin was straining to hold his awkward position for the sake of the child.

Changbin hummed uncertain, though, not looking forward to leaving his cuddle pile.

“We can make waffles. With berries and whipped cream, and maybe even…” Chan trailed off, before lowering his voice considerably, to the point it was more of a conspiratory whisper, “…with ice cream…!”

Changbin gasped softly, his eyes becoming wide, and he turned to look at Woojin for confirmation. Woojin hummed, nodding solemnly.

“That sounds like a fabulous idea! And I think we might still have some ice cream somewhere… I’m fairly sure, actually, but I fear that it was hidden by a certain little rascal I know…!”

Changbin shook his head quickly.

“It’s not hidden…! It’s in the drawers of the freezer in the pantry.”

Woojin rose a skeptic eyebrow.

“Is it? I didn’t see it last time I checked the drawers…”

“It’s there, though!” Changbin reassured him.

“Maybe it can only be found by you, baby. How about you go check?”

Changbin pouted for a moment as he debated on what to do. He didn’t want to move from his comfortable spot, but waffles with ice cream sounded really good to him, and the more he thought about it, the more he wanted them. Now all he had to do was find the ice cream…

Eventually, the idea of waffles for breakfast combined with his rumbling stomach ended up tilting the scale towards getting up and he clambered out of bed to make his way to the pantry. Chan and Woojin followed him at a more moderate pace but still promptly.

By the time they reached the kitchen, Changbin had already gotten the ice cream, and while Chan coaxed Changbin into coming with him to wash up and get dressed, Woojin made breakfast for the three of them. Changbin was almost hyper now that he was awake, taking twice the amount of time for his morning routine as usual since he kept getting distracted and playing around. Still, Chan would rather have him lively and happy like that than constantly exhausted as he’d been for most of the time since he’d come to them.

 

The next time the childcare worker came by, Changbin was completely unprepared, and as soon as he saw them step into the living room with Chan, he jumped up and ran to Woojin, who was just coming into the room himself from the back of the house. As soon as Changbin was next to Woojin, grabbing his hand for support, he turned back around to glare at the worker.

“I’m sleeping just fine now, you can leave again!” He spat venomously, surprising all three adults.

“Changbin!” Woojin tried to scold him, but Changbin shook his head, interrupting him.

“I’m not leaving! I’m not going back! I want to stay with you! Please, Woojin! You can’t let them take me away again!”

Woojin’s heart broke, and he kneeled down next to Changbin, forcing him to let go of his shirt and instead took him into his arms, enveloping him in a comforting hug.

“Changbin, it’s ok. You’re not going anywhere right now; calm down, baby, I got you… You can’t yell at people like that, though. It’s rude.”

Changbin clutched to the fabric covering Woojin’s shoulders, burying his head in Woojin’s chest.

“Please… I don’t want to leave you…” He whispered wetly, and both Woojin and Chan felt like their hearts were being torn out and trampled. Woojin looked with what almost resembled despair at Chan, and it was the last straw for Chan. He could no longer stand seeing his small family go through this kind of pain.

“Please, is it possible we could have a word alone first?” He addressed the worker, who nodded, and he led them to the kitchen, closing the door behind them after making sure Woojin and Changbin were nowhere close.

“Changbin managed to eavesdrop on us during your last visit, and he’s been terrified ever since that you’ll force him to leave us again.”

The worker looked at Chan apologetically, but still determined.

“It’s not my goal to take Changbin away from you; it’s my job to make sure he is in a healthy environment where he can grow up well and healthily.”

Chan took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, too.

“I understand that. It should be a relief for you to hear that we have since found the reason why Changbin wasn’t sleeping well, then, and are well on our way to help him with it.”

The worker rose an eyebrow, taking the seat at the kitchen table Chan was offering them.

“Oh? That is a relief, indeed. May I know what the cause was?”

“Severe separation anxiety; among a plethora of other traumata from his time at the institution. The separation anxiety is the worst part of it, though. We’ve decided to start going to see a therapist, as a family, to work with it, and have already met with him a few times. You might have heard of him…” Chan plucked a business card from under one of the many colourful magnets that decorated the door of their fridge, sliding it towards the childcare worker. Upon reading the name on the card, their eyes went wide, as it was one of the arguably best family-therapists in the whole country.

“In fact, he gave us a letter for you, regarding Changbin’s special case, too. As far as he told us, a large part of Changbin’s anxiety derives from his fear that he’ll have to return to the institution. We are not yet aware of why exactly the mere mention of that place triggers such violent reactions -like the one you witnessed earlier- in him, along with nightmares for days, but it is clear to us that it can’t possibly be a place where Changbin can grow up well and healthily.”

The childcare worker sighed, opening the letter Chan also proceeded to place in front of them.

“Of course, an institution isn’t the ideal environment for a child to grow up in, and our goal is always to make sure the children can find and stay with a family of their own; as long as that family provides a significantly better environment for them than the institution.”

Chan had to bite his tongue before he spoke again.

“Of course.”

Silence settled over the two as the worker read through the letter carefully, folding it in the end.

“I would like to take this to my superiors, if that is alright…” they declared in the end, and Chan nodded in agreement. “In light of this current development, I will try to put in a word with my superiors to reduce the frequency of my visits. We have worked with your therapist before, too, with only good results; maybe we can arrange a way to involve him in your monitoring and further cut back my visits. As I said, I am really not here to cause you and Changbin distress; my only job is to make sure he is in good hands, and I wish for nothing more than his happiness. I think I’ll refrain from asking to talk to him alone this time, and be right back on my way. Have a nice day, Mr Bang, and extend those wishes to your husband and Changbin from me, too.”

Chan was perplex, to say the least, but he politely guided the worker back to the front door and out. Still, he stood staring in silence at the front door once it closed behind the worker, trying to process what just happened, for a while too long.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the crackling of static coming from his belt.

“Chan?” Changbin’s voice sounded clearly through the static, and Chan took the walkie-talkie from his belt.

“Here, Binnie.”

“Are they gone?” Not even the sub-par quality of the transmission through the walkie-talkie could mask the hopefulness in Changbin’s voice. Chan smiled softly.

“They are, Binnie. Where have you and Woojin gone off to to hide?”

“We’re in the fort!” Changbin answered cheerily, and Chan smiled fondly, hurrying through the house to Changbin’s room. He didn’t see Woojin and Changbin as he came in, but that wasn’t surprising, since half of the room was taken up by a fort made out of several chairs that had gone missing from the dining room, Changbin’s desk, and pretty much every single throw blanket they owned.

“Chan, you have to hurry, the vampires are coming, you have to get in here before nightfall!” Changbin shouted through the walkie-talkie in the exact moment Chan stepped into the room.

“I’m here, lower the bridge!” Chan played along, and promptly Changbin started opening the front of the fort, letting Chan crawl in between two chairs. Chan grinned widely at him as soon as he got into the stuffy fort, reaching out to catch Changbin in the dim light provided by the nightlight they had gotten Changbin and that was now providing light inside the fort.

“Tricked you! The vampires already got to me and turned me, and now I’m gonna eat you for dinner!” Chan declared in a mock-scary voice, hugging Changbin to himself as the child squealed in mock-terror, interrupted by loud laughter between his calls for Woojin to save him while Chan blew raspberries against his neck and stomach.

“Now you’re a vampire, too! What do you say we eat that one next?”

Once he was done tickling Changbin, Chan nodded at Woojin, who was sitting in the corner of the fort, observing his family’s shenanigans fondly. At Chan’s words and the look of interest in Changbin’s eyes, Woojin’s eyes widened in fake horror. It was too late, though, as Changbin and Chan pounced on him together to tickle him, too, into becoming a vampire. They never quite managed, though, as their momentum was such that they tore half the blanket fort down with them and had to spend a considerable amount of time digging themselves out of the mountains of blankets. Once they did, all three of them out of breath and thoroughly disheveled, they were too tired to continue on with their play.

“Ok, we should clean this up. We don’t need to prepare for any other invasions for a while, but we do need the chairs for dinner. And we should charge the walkie-talkies so they have battery for tonight, and put the nightlight back into its place so it isn’t lost when we need it.” Chan declared, helping Changbin step out of the mess he and Woojin were still half-trapped in. Changbin didn’t object, helping dutifully as they converted his room back into a relatively clean children’s room rather than a war-zone.

 

Much later that night -Changbin had fallen asleep hours ago- Woojin and Chan were in their own room, getting ready for bed, too. Chan had just caught Woojin up on his conversation with the childcare worker and the reason for their early departure, when the walkie-talkie on their bedside table crackled with static, Changbin’s voice coming through soon after.

“Woojin? Are you there?”

Woojin reached for the device quickly to answer.

“Right here, baby.”

“And Chan, too?”

“I’m here, too, Binnie. Do you want us to come over?”

It took a moment before Changbin answered again.

“I had a bad dream… But you are both here, so it’s ok… It’s all ok...”

Chan and Woojin shared a look, and there wasn’t much to debate as they got up simultaneously, heading to Changbin’s room.

They’d gotten the walkie-talkies the very next day after Changbin had opened up to them about his separation anxiety, and it had become usual for Changbin to call out for them at least once a night, usually around the time they went to bed themselves.

During the first days when that happened, he’d always let them know he needed to see them, in one way or another, and they’d come over really quick to tuck him in again. After a week, those requests became fewer, with him simply telling them good night and going back to sleep once they had both answered him. Lately, more often than not, he fell right back asleep as soon as he heard both of their voices. For him to try to reassure himself it was all ok, though… They didn’t risk it, heading over to Changbin’s room.

Changbin was still wide awake when they stepped into the softly lit-up room.

“Binnie? You alright?” Woojin asked, sitting down on the edge of Changbin’s bed. Changbin reached out to hold Woojin’s hand, and Woojin let him. Then, he reached out for Chan’s hand, too, and Chan crouched down next to the bed so Changbin could hold on to it. He didn’t answer Woojin’s question right away, seemingly struggling with his answer.

Eventually, it came, though, but in form of a question.

“Can we have a sleepover?” He whispered, near silent, but Woojin and Chan picked it up anyway.

“Of course, baby.” Woojin reassured him without hesitation.

“In… in your room?” Changbin tacked on, hopeful, and Chan nuzzled his hand comfortingly before placing a small kiss to his knuckles.

“Sure thing. Want a piggy-back ride over?”

Changbin shook his head, though, shaking his hands free to stretch them both up to Chan.

“No! I want a koala-ride over!”

Chan laughed, getting up just to bend down so Changbin could wrap his small arms around his neck, holding on like that and with his legs wrapped around his waist to not fall off.

“You don’t need to hold me, I won’t fall!” The child declared proudly, but Chan held his arms protectively around Changbin anyway.

“You’re a sleepy koala and I’m not taking chances. I’ll give you a koala-ride without holding you tomorrow, if you want. Let’s get all of us into bed quickly, now, though.”

Changbin didn’t protest, snuggling against Chan as he carried him over. He barely let go of him long enough for all of them to get into bed, demanding cuddles from both Chan and Woojin once they had settled in, too. As soon as he was aware of both of their presences next to him, it took him mere seconds to be out like a light again.

Woojin dimmed the light of his bedside lamp to the lowest setting possible without turning it off, but it was still bright enough so he could see Chan looking intently at him once he turned back around to face him and Changbin. He gave his husband a questioning look, and Chan swallowed thickly.

“This is the first time he’s asked us if he can sleep over…” Chan answered, quiet voice thick with emotion.

It hit Woojin, too, then, and happy tears sprung to his eyes.

“You’re right… He’s really starting to open up to us, huh? Our baby…”

They exchanged a loving smile over Changbin’s sleeping form.

With progress like that, small steps as they were, it was easy to believe it would all be ok eventually. 


	3. Everybody Needs A Friend

Despite the small progresses Changbin made, opening up to Woojin and Chan was a gradual process, one that took a lot of time and effort from all parties involved.

As it turned out, many of the things that Chan and Woojin had originally attributed to Changbin being an actually quite uncomplicated child, just stemmed from the fact that he hid it from them if something upset him so they wouldn’t think he was being fussy or find a reason to send him back to the institution.

While that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing when it came to Changbin doing what few chores they gave him, it proved to be a problem when it came to the fact that he hid from them for example that there were certain foods that made him sick.

It took a massive scare that landed Changbin in the hospital after eating celery despite being allergic to it for Changbin to start admitting which foods made him feel bad and which he didn’t like so they could start excluding them from their meals; or at least Changbin’s meals.

Unfortunately, it took quite a few times of him being sick after eating too much out of fear of leaving something behind on his plate for him to allow himself to stop eating when he was full, instead of finishing whatever was on his plate. And even so, he usually only did that when either Chan or Woojin asked him if he was full and if he really wanted to keep eating.

He was in such a way conditioned to not leave anything on his plate in the beginning that Chan and Woojin started out giving him much smaller portions at first, to make sure he didn’t over-eat. That had the drawback that Changbin ate everything but remained hungry, because he didn’t dare ask for a second helping; so, they had to find another solution, which ended up being watching Changbin closely as he ate and learn to read him for the signs that indicated he was full and didn’t actually want to keep eating, to stop him in time.

Changbin didn’t tell either of his new parents the first time he caught a cold, either. He did a valiant effort to hide all the symptoms from them, and he hid them well. For a whole day, he managed to fool them; just to be so ill the next morning that he barely woke up from his fever induced sleep.

After being rushed to the hospital and spending a whole day and night in the doctors’ care, with his parents visibly aging about ten years during those 24 hours -Chan even breaking into tears at his bedside- they managed to get Changbin to promise to never hide it when he wasn’t feeling well again. And still they worried he might try.

With all those troubles they faced with Changbin, they were infinitely grateful for the foresight they’d had when they’d decided to have Changbin homeschooled for the rest of the school-year after adopting him; that way, they managed to keep a closer eye on him, and thus find out faster what kind of issues and troubles they would have to learn to deal with.

There was one massive drawback to that decision, though: Changbin was only always surrounded by adults, rather than kids his age. It didn’t even arise as an issue at first, since Changbin seemed to be perfectly fine with only having Chan and Woojin to play with, and they made a lot of time to play with him.

They were no substitute for other children, though, which they were reminded of by the family-therapist they saw, as well as the childcare worker that still came to visit them every now and then.

Changbin, on the other hand, didn’t seem to agree with the adults’ decision that he should make friends with other kids, at all. While he enjoyed going to the playground, he preferred it when there was next to no one there, and regardless if there were a lot or only a few children, he never talked to any of them, doing his thing alone and by himself.

In no time, he was known by the other kids as the weirdo that didn’t want to play with anyone, and soon there were rumors coursing around the playground about him. Changbin began dreading going to the playground, starting to apply the same tactics he’d once used to avoid having to go to bed when it came to the time they were supposed to head out.

Despite noticing that something was wrong, Chan and Woojin didn’t manage to get Changbin to tell them what it was. They still took him out, to other playgrounds, to play-gatherings, to the splash pools and the soccer-field, always hoping it would get better somewhere. It never did; all that happened was that Changbin withdrew further and further into himself again, and eventually they brought the issue up during a session with their therapist.

It turned out, Changbin didn’t like other kids; at least that was what he said. Other kids were mean, he said, and they said mean things about him, because he was different than them. In what way he was different, Changbin didn’t tell them; not anyone.

All that made Chan and Woojin worry; Changbin was supposed to go back to school regularly at the beginning of the next school year. At the rate it was going, he would quickly be facing hell there, if things turned out the same way there as they did at the playgrounds and wherever else Changbin was surrounded by other kids of his age.

They simply didn’t understand: why was it virtually impossible for Changbin to make friends? He was such a sweet child! Granted, sometimes maybe a bit too smart and witty for his age, but still! He was kind and tender-hearted, he would never hurt another living being, he knew a countless number of games to play and learned new ones quickly; all that should have helped him fit right in! And yet, it didn’t, much to Chan and Woojin’s despair.

Against all odds, Changbin ended up making a friend, after all, during the tail-end of the summer holidays.

Woojin was taking him out to do the groceries-shopping in the nearby convenience store, when he suddenly noticed Changbin had ran off from his side. Instantly, Woojin’s heart fell right out of his ribcage, dangling somewhere close to his feet as he called out for the child, without getting a response.

Abandoning the half-full cart, he hurried up and down the aisles in search of Changbin, when he inevitably passed the front of the store, where a toy car was mounted; one of those to throw a coin in and it would rock and light up, honk and play music. The kind that was incredibly dull for adults, but all the rage for kids, especially those of Changbin’s age.

It was there he spotted Changbin, along with three other kids.

Fueled by a mix of extreme relief and quickly growing exasperation over Changbin having run off to go play, when he should know _never_ to leave their side without asking first, Woojin started storming towards the area. He reached it not a second too soon, just in the nick of time to catch Changbin before he launched himself at two of the kids with a battle-cry of “Take it back!” that easily echoed through the entire store.

“Changbin! What are you doing?!” Woojin shouted himself, and instantly Changbin froze, eyes growing wide as he stared at Woojin with fear. The next thing Woojin knew, Changbin had wound his arm out of Woojin’s grip and taken several steps back from Woojin.

Despite the fear in his gaze, there was also determination written all over Changbin’s face.

“I’m protecting him!” He declared, pointing at the third child, who was sitting on the floor with tears streaming down his face.

Woojin blinked in confusion, torn between that new emotion and the ones already riding him.

“What are you talking about? What were you about to do before I stopped you?”

Changbin stuck out his chin defiantly, even though his hands were trembling where he gripped the hem of his shirt tightly to hide that fact.

“They were being nasty to him! And I am going to protect him from those nasties!”

Woojin gaped at Changbin.

“You… what? Changbin! You don’t go around calling people ‘nasties’! That’s rude, and I won’t have it!”

Changbin flinched, taking a shaky step back, but he still didn’t back down completely.

“They are, though! They said horrible things to him!”

Woojin’s eyes left Changbin for a second to look at the child on the floor, who was still crying silently. He almost missed the venomous words one of the other two kids spat as he focused on the crying child.

“It’s true, though. No one wants him, not even his mother; that’s why he’s here all day! And you are just like him, aren’t you… Your parents left you for some random strangers to pick up and raise like a pet! How disgusting you must be for your own parents to not want you!”

Woojin barely managed to catch Changbin a second time, even though his mind hesitated for a moment, debating if he shouldn’t let Changbin have at the hateful brat.

“Changbin, stop!” He warned, though, holding a struggling Changbin back. Over his head he stared at the two kids, who were snickering at Changbin’s struggle. “Binnie, they are not worth you getting hurt for!” He admonished, and Changbin stopped struggling at the nickname.

“Ignore them; you know what they are saying isn’t true. We love you dearly and would never abandon you; for nothing. Who is your friend, though?” Changbin looked up at Woojin with a pained gaze, before Woojin’s question registered and he turned to the boy on the floor.

“I don’t know his name yet… What’s your name?” He asked, and the kid looked up shortly, wiping at his eyes.

“M-minho…” He whispered, and Changbin beamed at him.

“Hey, Minho. I’m Changbin. You are taller than me; are you my hyung?”

The child, Minho, looked between Changbin and Woojin warily.

“I’m seven, but almost eight… And- and you?”

“You are my hyung, then.” Changbin declared solemnly. “I just turned seven.”

Woojin was torn, somehow glad Changbin had found another child he actually seemed to have decided he wanted to talk to, but also worried about what damage the other children’s words might have done to Changbin that he wasn’t showing right now, as well as appalled that Changbin was apparently more than ready to physically fight them, and a little proud that he was willing to do it for another kid, one he’d only just met, too. Above all of that, he was still coming down from the adrenaline high that had been noticing Changbin had run off, though, and mixing in with that came another worry as he remembered the children’s words about Minho.

“Minho, are you alone here?” He asked gently, interrupting his conversation with Changbin.

Minho shook his head.

“My mom is over there, working. I have to wait here until she’s done.” He pointed to the registers.

Woojin felt a pang at that, but at least the child wasn’t here completely alone. Before he could ask Minho any more questions, they were interrupted by a new voice.

“Minho! What have you done now? I told you not to get in trouble while I have to work!” A woman scolded, and Minho lowered his head.

“He didn’t get in trouble; the other kids were being mean to him! I did all the trouble, so don’t scold Minho-hyung!” Changbin stepped in front of Minho again, confronting the woman as she approached and inevitably came to a sudden halt.

“And you are…?” She asked, and Changbin crossed his arms.

“Changbin. And I’m going to protect Minho-hyung! I mean… If Minho-hyung is ok with that…? Since you’re the hyung…” Changbin turned to Minho, worry creasing his brow now, and Minho looked back at him with a curious expression.

Woojin felt it was alright to let the boys figure out that bit by themselves while he addressed the mother.

“Hello, I’m Changbin’s father… Are you Minho’s mother?”

The woman turned to him instead of the children, too, nodding, and Woojin gave her a small smile.

“From what I saw, Changbin is telling the truth; there were two kids here who were trying to goad Minho into a fight when Changbin interfered. Minho didn’t get himself into trouble.”

The woman blinked in confusion, mild relief following. Then, she tilted her head as she focused fully on Woojin.

“Right… Say… Do I know you? I feel like I know you from somewhere.”

Woojin quickly straightened up but averted his gaze, pulling his cap further into his face. He was a famous singer, after all, it wasn’t exactly easy for him to stay anonymous, and he’d rather not have the woman cause a scene in the convenience store once she connected the dots.

“Wait, I know where I know you from! You and your husband live in one of the big houses down by the river, don’t you? Next to the Chois… is it 325 or 323? I-I clean for the Chois in 324 every morning, that’s how, uh, where I know you from…”

Woojin almost sighed in relief that that was the only place she knew him from.  

“Yes, you’re right…”

She bowed deeply after that, though, surprising Woojin again.

“I deeply apologize for my son getting yours in trouble, Sir. He knows not to cause trouble normally while I work, so he can stay here. I promise it won’t happen again!”

Woojin glanced over to the children, Changbin sitting on the floor next to Minho now, his whole focus on the other child, while the older’s was torn between Changbin and his mother.

“Uh, it’s alright… Your son didn’t do it on purpose, and it was actually Changbin getting himself into trouble… Don’t worry about it. Say, though…” He trailed off, observing the children a while longer as they got more engrossed in a conversation of their own. “Does Minho wait for you while you work all the time?” he made an effort to keep his voice judgement-free.

Minho’s mother sighed quietly.

“When he isn’t in school, yes, unfortunately. I’m alone with him, and I can’t leave him at home on his own…”

Woojin nodded slowly.

“So, you take him with you when you work at our neighbour’s, too?”

“Uh… yes?”

Woojin gave her an understanding smile.

“That must be terribly boring for him… If you don’t mind, and since you take him with you anyway… what would you say to letting Minho come over to ours so he can play with Changbin while you work in the mornings? I know this is quite sudden, and we don’t really know each other, it’s just… Changbin doesn’t make friends with kids around his age, as a rule, and yet, he and Minho seem to be hitting it off quite fast. I think that kind of arrangement could be beneficial to both our sons…”

 

Minho’s mother agreed surprisingly easily, and so it came that come the next morning, she came to drop Minho off at their house on her way to work. Changbin squealed in delight as soon as he understood who was at the door, darting out to come drag Minho inside to play before the adults even really had time to greet each other.

Minho was a shy kid, Woojin and Chan learned that morning; Changbin, on the other hand, came out of his shell quicker and further than ever before while playing with Minho. They’d probably never seen him as carefree and enthusiastic as he was during that morning.

Five hours passed quickly, and Minho’s mother came to pick him up again. Changbin begged both Minho’s mother and his own parents to let Minho stay a little longer, just a little, _please_ , but it wasn’t possible. He managed to wring the promise out of them that Minho would come back the next morning, though.

The rest of the day, Changbin spent trailing after either one of his fathers, chattering about Minho, telling them everything he had learned about the older boy so far, and what they had been doing that morning.

“Minho can jump really far, did you know that? We played the floor is lava, and he can jump _so_ far! And run really fast around corners without falling!”, “Minho _loves_ cats! He was so happy when he met Soonie and Doongie! He said when he grows up, he wants to have a hundred cats; can we get a hundred cats, too, please, Chan?”, “Minho writes with his left hand! But he can write with both hands. I want to learn to write with both hands, too!”, “Minho says pancakes are better than waffles, can you believe? But he actually prefers rice for breakfast, and eggs. Can we have rice and eggs tomorrow when he comes over? He says he normally doesn’t eat breakfast, because he and his mom have to leave home so early and his mom doesn’t have time to make breakfast for them.”, “Minho says his mom has three jobs. Isn’t that really hard? She must be so smart to be able to do so many things.”, “Minho and I played that we were cats earlier; Minho can purr like a real cat! I can’t do that. Do you think Minho is part cat? He meows like one, too!”

And like this it went on and on, the rest of the day until they put Changbin to bed. They had no illusions that the following day would be spent much the same way, but they didn’t mind, not at all. Above all, they were glad Changbin had finally found someone around his age with whom he wanted to be friends, and if it was a kid as friendly as Minho, they couldn’t complain about it, at all.

The next day, as expected, went much like the one before, with only one small change: they waited with breakfast until Minho arrived, inviting him to eat with them. When the time for Minho to leave came, once again Changbin begged for him to stay longer, and at least managed to get the promise out of the adults that Minho would come back the next morning. And the next, and the next.

For the rest of the summer holidays, Minho spent the mornings over at Chan and Woojin’s, playing with Changbin while his mother worked. With time, Minho opened up more to Woojin and Chan, too, yet always stayed reserved around them. Together with Changbin and out of their view, he was just as rambunctious as Changbin after a few days, and they were sure that he got up to all kinds of mischief with Changbin; and that was ok, that was what children their age were supposed to do. Sure, Chan and Woojin called them both out if they got up to too rowdy a play, if they broke things or put themselves in danger, but mostly they let them have their fun as they pleased. Changbin was a very mindful child, after all, ever careful not to cross any lines to not upset his parents, and Minho was just as careful, delighted as he was that he was allowed to come over to play with Changbin in the mornings, he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that right.

As tended to happen with all good things, though, the mornings of carefree play had to come to an end, too.

The new school year rolled around, and both Minho and Changbin had to attend school again, leaving them without their free mornings to play for at least five days a week.

With Changbin finally having made a friend in Minho, Chan and Woojin nearly forgot about his refusal to get along with other kids, and what that would mean for him in school.

Changbin didn’t say anything, simply letting Chan and Woojin prepare him for school every morning and one of the two drive him over. He was a big boy, he didn’t protest against going to school, and he liked learning, after all. Besides, all kids went to school, and he didn’t want to cause his parents trouble by refusing to go.

For a week, everything went well, and come Saturday morning, Minho rang the doorbell and Changbin had his friend back.

Instead of the usual ruckus the two usually made, the house stayed quiet, though. While unusual, it wasn’t something that had never happened before, though, and Chan and Woojin left the children to do whatever they wanted. It wasn’t like they desperately needed it to be loud around the house, anyway.

When Minho left, however, Changbin stayed quiet, and that… that had never happened.

“Binnie? Is everything ok?” Chan asked carefully after Changbin and Minho had bid each other a quiet good-bye and a promise to meet tomorrow.

“Yeah…” Changbin answered with half a sigh. Chan frowned.

“Did you and Minho have fun this morning?”

Changbin nodded, but it lacked all enthusiasm.

“Yeah.”

“What did you play?”

Changbin shrugged.

“We just… played. Nothing special.”

Woojin, who came into the room at that exact moment, frowned, too. Nothing special? That had never before kept Changbin from telling them all the details about it…

“Did you and Minho fight?” He asked, and Changbin whipped around, wide-eyed.

“No! We didn’t! Minho-hyung is my bestest friend!”

Well, that was a relief at least.

“Even friends fight sometimes, baby. I’m not saying you did, but even if you did, that’s ok and just normal. That’s what making up is for. But if you didn’t fight, that’s good, of course.” Chan reassured him, patting his hair slightly.

“We didn’t fight, though… I would never fight with Minho-hyung. Never with him…” Changbin stated, full of conviction, and yet his tone remained… dull.

“Alright… We believe you. It really seems like you are upset, though, and we are just wondering why that is.” Woojin remarked, and Changbin sighed, crossing his arms with a pout but leaning into Woojin’s side anyway as he passed an arm around him.

“We didn’t fight, and I’m not upset. I just want it to be tomorrow already so Minho-hyung can come back.” He stated with finality, giving Chan a look that seemed to dare him to keep prodding. Chan decided not to.

“That would be nice, wouldn’t it… Before tomorrow can come, though, you need to do your homework, so you and Minho can play without a worry tomorrow.” Chan changed subjects, and Changbin got up to go get his books. When he left the room, Chan and Woojin exchanged worried looks, but they were both equally lost regarding what was going on with Changbin.

The next day, Minho and Changbin played like usual, and Woojin and Chan chalked Changbin’s mood from the day before up to him just having an off-day.

And then, school began again. The week passed normally, Changbin coming home tired from school but that wasn’t exactly unusual. It was Thursday when Chan noticed something different for the first time, while helping Changbin get ready for bed at night.

“Binnie? What happened to you? You have a huge bruise on your back…!” Chan asked, slightly alarmed, ghosting his fingers over the purple skin over Changbin’s ribs. Changbin tensed up, stepping away from Chan.

“I- I fell. From the jungle-gym. During break.”

Chan frowned, squinting at the bruise, but it did look like that was a possible cause, and he didn’t see any other bruises, so he accepted the explanation. Children in Changbin’s age fell all the time.

“Oh… Are you ok everywhere else? Does it still hurt?”

Changbin shrugged.

“I’m fine. It hurts a little, but not a lot. Just like a normal bruise. Chan, I’m cold!” He whined then, reaching for the pajama shirt, and Chan obliged, helping Changbin into the soft garment without prodding further.

Friday passed without a hitch, and Saturday saw Minho coming over again. Changbin and Minho disappeared quickly into Changbin’s room, playing quietly, but not too quietly, again. The same went for Sunday, and after Minho left, Changbin seemed happier again, more carefree than he had been all week.

And then at night, he had a terrible nightmare and came running into Chan and Woojin’s room in the dead of night, without even using his walkie-talkie, begging them to let him stay over. Of course, they allowed him to, letting him snuggle up between them for the rest of the night.

As the school week progressed, Changbin became more and more quiet again, and Woojin and Chan worried that it might be more than just tiredness, even though Changbin kept reassuring them he was just tired. He fell twice more, too. Once again from the jungle gym, and once on the stairs in front of the school. His hands and knees skinned on that second fall, and Changbin was very upset about ripping his uniform pants.

The weekend rolled around, and Minho came over again. When Minho left again on Sunday, the two boys hugged for a long time, not wanting to let go of each other, and Minho whispered something to Changbin just before letting go that sounded a lot like an encouragement of some sort. Still, Changbin looked heartbroken after having to let go of his friend, and when Woojin asked him about it, Changbin simply threw himself into his arms, burying his face into Woojin’s shirt as he started crying.

Woojin was shocked to say the least, quickly wrapping the child up in a hug and holding him close.

“Oh no, baby, what’s wrong? Shh, I got you… I got you, love…”

Chan came into the room, frowning as he saw their child cry in Woojin’s arms, and gave his husband a questioning look. Woojin could only shrug helplessly, though, rocking Changbin gently.

Even after he stopped crying, he still wouldn’t tell them what was wrong, though, and it left them both with a very uneasy feeling. They tried to get Changbin to open up, but he didn’t. Instead, that evening, he asked right away if he could sleep with them that night, instead of in his own bed. Considering the rather shitty day Changbin had obviously had, they let him without questioning him.

The school week started as always, with the always same routine. Changbin was tired when he came home, every day, and even started napping as soon as he came home. Wednesday night, Chan found new bruises on Changbin’s legs, several of them, but Changbin simply told him he had tripped over a few buckets and brooms that they had used to play.

Chan didn’t buy it.

That night, when he went to bed, he couldn’t find sleep, and Woojin noticed it, too.

“Channie? You’re thinking too loud. What’s bothering you?”

Chan sighed, rolling onto his side so he was facing his husband in the dark.

“Do you think Changbin is doing ok in school?”

Woojin didn’t answer immediately.

“In what way do you mean…?”

“Not grades. I wonder, if he… If he’s doing ok with the other kids. He… he keeps showing up with new bruises all the time, and… I know kids his age fall all the time and are clumsy and get hurt, but… Even when he played rowdily with Minho, he never had this many bruises, and in such strange places… I wonder if he’s being bullied.”

There it was. Woojin took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly.

“I’ve been wondering the same thing… I’ve tried asking him about it, too, but… he said he always plays alone, because he doesn’t like the other kids. And that’s it. He doesn’t really… He’s never really told me anything about what it’s like at school. I’m assuming he didn’t tell you anything, either?”

Chan shook his head, despite it being dark and Woojin not being able to see it.

“No… when I ask him about his bruises, he always says he fell… from the jungle gym, on the stairs, over buckets… I feel like he’s hiding something from us again…”

Woojin hummed quietly.

“He’s hiding from us, but I think he’s telling someone…”

“Oh?” Chan asked, curious, and Woojin hummed quietly.

“Minho. Hew was encouraging Changbin last Sunday, when he left; before Changbin started crying. He knows more than we do.”

Chan thought about it for a while.

“He wouldn’t tell us, though… I don’t think Minho trusts us, even if he would go through hell for Changbin.”

Woojin hummed in confirmation.

“True… It really is frustrating; our child is hurting, and it looks like there isn’t anything we can do to help him, because he won’t let us…!”

Blindly, Chan reached out in the dark to find Woojin’s hand to hold for comfort; for both of them.

“We will find out, Wooj. We should probably let our therapist know about this, too, and then… maybe go from there? I’ll also go talk to Binnie’s teachers, tomorrow. Let’s see what they say…”

Woojin sighed, squeezing Chan’s hand comfortingly.

“I’ll drop the both of you off at the school, and then I’ll go and try to talk to Minho’s mother… It could be that Minho told her something…”

Chan hummed in agreement.

“That’s all better than not doing anything… It’s the not knowing what to do, the not doing anything that is driving me most crazy…!”

Woojin shifted in bed, pulling Chan closer so that he could hug him.

“I know… I feel the same. We will start doing something tomorrow, though. You’re right, we will find out what is going on.

 

Chan called Changbin’s homeroom teacher before classes started the next morning, agreeing to meet with her as soon as the kids had started their classes.

“It’s fortunate that you requested this meeting; if you hadn’t, I would have asked you to come in soon, anyway.” She started, putting Chan on guard instantly.

“Oh? Is that so?”

“Indeed. Please, have a seat.”

Chan did, but it didn’t make him feel more comfortable in the slightest.

“Now, before I start, I believe there is a reason why you requested this meeting, so let’s hear from you first. What did you want to talk to me about?”

Ah, so they were doing it this way around. Not that Chan minded.

“Alright… I’m not going to sugar-coat anything, then. As you know, Changbin is adopted, and he hasn’t been with us for very long. Ever since he came to us, though, he has always been a lively child. He’s been opening up to us rather slowly, but he has been opening up to us; and while he might not always have told us everything, he never used to lie to us. Now, though, we feel like he has been lying to us, specifically about one thing that has us very concerned: he keeps coming home with a multitude of bruises. Now, I am aware that children his age get hurt easily, and often, but even when he plays rowdily at home, he never gets this many bruises. And certainly, you are keeping an eye on the kids here at school to make sure they don’t play too harshly. So, what I wonder, is how he keeps getting hurt so much? And why would he feel like he needs to lie to us about them? Does he get in trouble with the other kids? Does he get into fights? What is going on?”

The teacher didn’t look surprised at all by Chan’s questions, nor did she look affected.

“Well… Changbin is a good student. Too good, in fact. Children his age are not supposed to be as smart as he is. It causes… frictions, with his peers.”

Chan gave her a disbelieving stare.

“Are you telling me my child is getting bullied because he is good in class?” He asked her directly, in a dead-pan voice. “Is that it? He’s getting punished for learning well, in a place he goes to to do just that; learn?”

For a second, the teacher actually looked uncomfortable, but she caught herself quickly.

“No, of course not. Of course, he isn’t bullied. However, Changbin does provoke his peers regularly.”

Chan gaped at her for a second in disbelief before reigning himself in as well.

“Provokes them? Changbin? How?!”

She huffed, sitting up straighter and folding her hands in front of her on the table.

“Changbin, ever since he joined this class… He’s refused to talk to the other kids. He refuses to play with them, refuses to sit with them for lunch. He doesn’t answer when they talk to him first, doesn’t work with them even when we ask them to work in pairs. By isolating himself in such a way, he is clearly provoking the other children.”

“You mean, by minding his own business, not harming or crossing anyone, he is asking to be attacked by his peers? If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of values do you teach the kids in this school?” Chan knew he should check his temper, but the way the teacher talked rubbed him in all the wrong ways. Unfortunately, the way he talked back had the same effect on the teacher.

“We try to teach the kids that no one is better than anyone else, that they are all equal. Now, if a child feels they are too good to interact with their peers… Children have their own ways to teach each other their values.”

“Ah, I see. An introverted child that newly joins a class where everyone already knows each other and feels too shy or uncomfortable to approach them is singled out as someone who thinks they are better than the others. And instead of teaching the children in your care the difference, you encourage them to bully those who stand out. Aren’t you teaching the others that they are better than the ones who are different, then?” Chan was near seething then, barely holding on to his temper. He wished Woojin had gone to talk to the teacher instead of him, in that moment. Woojin was much, much better at keeping his cool, and this teacher… Chan really had to focus on holding back.

“We believe that children should learn to sort their differences out among themselves from a young age. That way, they learn from the start what works and what doesn’t when interacting with others.”

Chan couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“What you are teaching them like that is that they can freely discriminate against everyone who is different!”

The teacher shrugged, unbothered, looking him dead in the eye.

“As I said, they learn from an early age on how life works.”

Chan had enough. In fact, he had more than enough. He was shaking, even if he managed to contain it so it at least wasn’t apparent externally. He didn’t want to spend a single second longer in the presence of that… person.

“I see… I see how it is. Thank you very much for giving me such a… vivid image of the values of this… place. I’ll… I’ll be in contact.”

He didn’t wait for her to reply, getting up and storming out. He wanted nothing more than find Changbin, take him and leave; to take him far, far away from this place, and keep him safe. He couldn’t do that, though. Changbin needed to get his education, and he couldn’t just suddenly take him out of school, especially in the middle of the day, if he didn’t want to get them all in trouble.

He barely made it outside the school before calling Woojin, though.

“Wooj. I need you to come pick me up. Now. Before I do something stupid!”

Woojin gasped on the other end of the line, hastily saying his goodbyes to someone and Chan could hear a chair scraping against the floor.

“Chan? Where are you, and what is going on?”

“I’m in front of the school, and I want Changbin out of here yesterday!”

Judging from the sounds he heard through the phone, Woojin was running.

“Chan, stay right where you are! Actually, no, start walking. Turn right, and start walking, towards the garden center. I’m on my way, ok? Let’s not do anything rash. You can tell me everything once I pick you up, ok?”

Chan did as Woojin told him to, starting towards the garden center with long strides.

“Ok. Ok… Wooj, you won’t believe what that… that _disgusting_ person told me…!”

“I will, babe. I will believe you. But don’t tell me now, ok? Tell me when I’m there. Don’t think about it now. Think you can jog down to the garden center? I’m in the car now, I’ll be there in five minutes. Race you there?”

Chan knew exactly what Woojin was doing; he was trying to distract him from his anger and get him to pour it all into physical activity to prevent him from turning back around and doing something stupid. And that was exactly why he had called Woojin for.

“Channie?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I can. I’ll race you there. Don’t hang up?”

“I won’t. Go ahead, hurry, I’ll be there soon.”

Chan’s grip on his phone tightened and he started to jog. It wasn’t enough, though, and he picked up the pace. He went faster and faster until he was sprinting down the sidewalk towards the parking lot of the garden center, ignoring the looks he got for his mad dash.

He ran into the lot at the same time as Woojin pulled into it, and he made a beeline for him. He didn’t even wait for Woojin to find a parking spot, opening the passenger door and dropping into the seat, panting harshly.

Woojin didn’t say anything to it as Chan leaned back, head lolling against the headrest as he tried to catch his breath.

“Door, Channie.” He reminded him gently, and Chan closed the door. “Belt?” Chan pulled on the seatbelt, and Woojin took it out of his hand to strap Chan in before focusing on the road again, driving towards the exit of the parking lot. He didn’t speak, waiting for Chan to catch his breath.

“Better?” He asked when he pulled into the driveway of their house, and Chan’s breathing had calmed down. Chan shook his head, though.

“No. I want Changbin out of that school, Wooj.”

Woojin nodded quietly.

“Ok. We’ll look into it.”

“Do you know what they- what she- that teacher, what she told me?”

Woojin shook his head,

“No. But I’m sure you’ll tell me.”

And Chan launched into a retelling of their conversation, with Woojin listening quietly. He got angry, yes, but he contained it carefully. If he let his anger out, it would fuel Chan’s even more, and _then_ Chan would for sure do something stupid.

“I see…” He mused when Chan came to an end with his tale. “And I agree, that is no environment for Changbin; or for any other child. Let’s go inside, and then you can start looking for other schools in the area we can transfer him to.”

Chan stared at Woojin, a crease forming between his eyebrows.

“I don’t oppose, but… What do _you_ have in mind?”

Woojin turned to face Chan, carefully peeling his hands away from where they were still gripping the steering wheel with probably way too much force.

“I’ll look into what it takes to report a school to the district office, or even the ministry of education, for gross negligence.”

Chan always knew he loved this man for a reason…!

 

It was Woojin who went to pick Changbin up from the school that afternoon, not necessarily trusting Chan to keep his cool if he went near that building again that very same day. He found it was the right decision when he found Changbin with red rimmed eyes, as if he’d been crying not too long ago.

“Binnie…! Hey… Are you ok, baby?”

Changbin looked up at him with wide eyes, then quickly shook his head and surged forward, wrapping his arms around Woojin’s legs and burying his face against him. Woojin was surprised by the action, quickly getting Changbin to let go so he could scoop him up into his arms instead. Changbin sobbed heart-wrenchingly, near choking Woojin with how tight he held onto his neck, face buried against him.

“Oh, sweetie… It’s ok now… I’m here, baby, I’m here… It’s ok…”

“P-p-please… Papa, please… don’t make me come back here again…” Changbin sobbed against Woojin’s shirt, and Woojin froze.

Changbin… He’d never called him papa. It was always Woojin. He never called Chan anything else than his name either… But just now…!

And he did it in such a moment of despair, begging him…

“I won’t, baby… I won’t make you come back here, ever again. I won’t let them keep hurting you. I got you, baby. Let’s go home, ok?”

Changbin nodded, but only held on tighter to Woojin.

“Papa, don’t let go, please…”

Woojin teared up, but he swallowed his tears down with a valiant effort.

“Oh Binnie… I have to so I can drive us home… You have to get into your seat, and I have to get into mine. I’ll cuddle you all you want at home, ok? And Channie will, too. You just have to let go for a tiny little bit, ok?”

Changbin shook his head, though, holding on tight.

With each and every single one of Changbin’s broken sobs, Woojin’s anger mounted. Not at Changbin, no; never at Changbin. But the school, and the school district… Every single one of the ones responsible for his son’s tears, they would pay for them. He would make sure they were all held responsible, in one way or another. He would do it the proper way first, and if that didn’t satisfy him… He was not beyond playing dirty and using every means he had at his disposal to make them face the consequences of their actions. No one, _no one_ , hurt his child!

 

Changbin slept over in Chan and Woojin’s bed that night; of course, he did. There was barely a moment where he wasn’t being cuddled starting from the moment Woojin stopped the car in their driveway. Between Chan and Woojin, they barely let go of him all evening, and they went to bed early, cuddling close together as they watched a movie. Seeing as they already knew what was going on, they didn’t press Changbin to tell them what had made him cry like that that day.

They next morning, they slept in. It was a Friday, but just like Woojin had promised Changbin, they had no intentions of sending him back to that school.

After a late breakfast, Changbin joined Chan on the couch in the living room, where Chan had gone to to fold laundry while Woojin cleaned the kitchen.

“Daddy?” He asked quietly, and Chan froze mid action, the pair of socks he’d been about to roll together slipping out of his fingers.

“Can I call you that? Daddy?” Changbin asked quietly, and Chan mentally slapped himself out of his frozen state.

“Y-yes, baby. You can.”

“Can I keep calling you Chan, too?”

Chan nodded numbly.

“Yes. Of course.”

Changbin took a deep breath, leaning into Chan’s side.

“I called Woojin papa yesterday… When he picked me up. I really… really wanted him to be a papa then. A real papa. And I want you to be a real daddy, too.”

Chan’s head was spinning, and he brushed the laundry aside to hold Changbin close to him.

“We… we really want to be a real papa and a real daddy for you, too, Binnie. To us, you have been a real son, our real baby, from the start. We felt like you were ours, our baby, from the first day we met you. Do you remember that day?”

Changbin nodded against Chan.

“You felt like a real papa and a real daddy that day, too… You acted like a real papa and a real daddy. I wanted you to be them, too. But… I was so scared… I’m… I’m always scared… Since I’m not… not _really_ your son… I’m always scared you will send me away again…”

Chan felt tears well up in his eyes, and he wasn’t able to hold them in. He held on to Changbin tighter, shaking his head and leaning down to kiss the top of Changbin’s head.

“Baby, we would _never_ …! You _are_ our real baby. You _are_ our son. We’ll never let you go; we’ll never send you away, either. As long as you want us to be there for you, we will always be, for our whole lives. We will always look out for you, and always protect you. We will fight the whole world for you, always!”

Changbin inhaled a shaky breath, holding on to Chan as well.

“You always say that… But it’s so hard to believe… My… my real- no, my _other_ parents, they… I… I was th-theirs, and they-…” He broke off, choking up. Chan’s heart ached for the precious boy in his arms.

“Baby, those people… they were blind not to see what a treasure you are. They… they were wrong. Not you. Never you. You are perfect the way you are; there is nothing about you that is in any way wrong. And Woojin and I… We love you so much, Binnie. For everything that it’s worth, you are our son.”

Changbin didn’t say anything for a long time, and neither did Chan.

“Yesterday… yesterday, when Woojin… when papa… When he said I never have to go back there… That was… It was the first time since… It really _felt_ like he was my real papa then. I… I wish it would always feel like that. I want to… to always feel… _safe_ , like then. And I know… I know I have to tell you when I’m… when things are bad, so you can help. But I am scared a lot… Are you… Are you mad that I didn’t tell you sooner?” Changbin asked, pulling away to look up at Chan, who was still teary-eyed.

“No, Binnie. I’m not mad. And neither is Woojin. We understand. But… I’m going to be really honest with you, because you have been really honest with me: we can always tell when something is not right, and when you are hiding something from us. We can tell, but we trust you, and so we want to wait for you to tell us when you are ready and feel like you can trust us. But… It’s really hard, for us, to see you suffer, alone; it hurts. We want to help you, and do everything we can to make sure you are happy. But we can only do that when we know what is wrong. So, no. We are not mad. But we really, really want you to tell us when you need help, so all three of us don’t have to suffer.”

Changbin bit his lip, thinking about it. Chan didn’t expect an answer from him, and he didn’t get one. And that was ok.

After their talk, there was an air of calmness, of tranquility, around Changbin that hadn’t been there before; not ever.

That night, during dinner, Changbin cleared his throat at some point, looking way too serious for a seven-year-old child.

“I… I have a question.”

Woojin and Chan shared a look, then turned their whole attention to Changbin.

“Yes?”

“I… I don’t have to go back to that school, right?”

“No, baby. Never again. We promise.” Woojin answered calmly, but determined. Changbin nodded, seemingly content with that answer.

“But… I still have to go to school, right? Because all children have to go to school… right?”

Neither of the parents had an idea where Changbin wanted to go with this. Chan still nodded, though.

“Yes. You will have to go to a school again… Another school, though; not that one.”

Changbin nodded solemnly, accidentally spearing a piece of carrot onto his chopstick as he played with them nervously before setting the utensils down.

“I… When you find a new school for me… Can I… I mean, I was thinking… Is it possible… Can you make it so that I can go to the same school as Minho-hyung?”

Chan and Woojin looked at each other to gauge the other’s reaction, before turning back to Changbin.

“Well… We’ll have to see what kind of school it is, and where it is, and if they take kids after the year has already started, but…”

“But, if there is nothing out of our control making it so that you can’t, then yes, sure.” Woojin finished for Chan, and Changbin’s eyes lit up.

“Really?!”

Woojin hummed in confirmation, nodding,

“Yes. You do know that you won’t be in the same class as Minho there, though, right?”

Changbin nodded, waving that concern away carelessly as he picked up his chopsticks again, munching on the speared piece of carrot.

“I know. Minho-hyung is a whole year ahead of me. But I would still be able to play with him during the breaks, and see him every day. And we could play after school, too; when you pick me up, you could pick him up, too, and we could come here to play, so he doesn’t have to wait in the store while his mom works. And when his mom has to work all night at the hospital, he could sleep over, and wouldn’t have to sleep on the chairs in the waiting room and get a back-ache, and then we can go to school in the morning together. And no one would be mean to me because I don’t have any friends anymore, because I have Minho-hyung, and no one would be mean to Minho-hyung anymore because his mom doesn’t have a pretty car, because he would come to school in one of your cars, and your cars are all pretty.”

Woojin and Chan gaped at each other as Changbin babbled away.

“You have it all planned out already, huh…?” Chan chuckled when Changbin had to stop talking for a moment as he shoved a big chunk of rice in his mouth. Changbin nodded enthusiastically, swallowing the big bite.

“Yes. But you have to talk to Minho-hyung’s mom first, because Minho-hyung says he is too scared that if he asks she will get mad at him or she won’t listen to him at all. But if you ask her, she won’t get mad at him, and she will listen. She only listens and doesn’t get mad at other grown-ups; that’s what Minho-hyung says.”

Chan frowned lightly, but Woojin’s hand on his thigh under the table soothed him.

“If that is the case, then we will have to talk to Mrs Lee… And see what we can do. But, Changbin…?” Woojin conceded calmly, and Changbin looked up at him at his question.

“We’ll see what we can do. But, you might have to be patient for a while, while we try to make it all work, ok? It might not all happen immediately, or exactly how you planned… We’ll have to take into account how Mrs Lee thinks about this, and if she will allow Minho to do all that. That is not something we can promise you.”

Changbin frowned a little, but it soon gave way to a smile as he nodded.

“But you will try, right?”

“Yes. We will try.”


	4. Almost-Son

Like promised, Woojin talked to Minho’s mother to find out which school her son went to, and they enrolled Changbin there, too. The drive there was a bit longer, and the area it was located in wasn’t quite as fancy as the one where his previous school was, but that was the last thing that mattered to them as long as Changbin was happy.

And Changbin was happy. From the first day on, when Chan picked him up after school, he was excited and bubbly, telling him everything about what he and Minho had been up to during the breaks, and even a little bit about his classes, new things he had learned that had stuck out to him. Chan listened with a content smile, tentatively relieved that Changbin was so happy; he just hoped it would stay that way.

The following days, nothing about Changbin’s enthusiasm changed; he even evolved into a true morning person, starting to wake up even before Chan and Woojin, demanding they get up with him so he could go to school sooner.

“Come oooon, please! Minho-hyung always has to wait so long on his own before classes because his mom has to drop him off early before going to work, I want to keep him company!” He whined, tugging on Woojin’s hand that had been hanging off the mattress, over an hour before their first alarm rang.

“Binnie…? Binnie, it’s the middle of the night…” Woojin groaned, but Changbin kept pulling, jostling all of Woojin in the process.

“Papaaa, get up!”

Behind Woojin, Chan rose his head sleepily, peering over his husband at Changbin.

“Binnie? What’s going on?”

“I want to go to school! Minho-hyung is going to be there soon, too, and he gets so bored on his own. You have to get up!!”

Chan’s gaze shifted towards the alarm clock on Woojin’s bedside table.

“Binnie, It’s barely five thirty… We don’t have to be up for another hour…” He groaned, falling back into his sheets.

“Daddy, please!” Changbin whined, yelping in surprise when Woojin tugged his hand back, wrapping his arm around him as he stumbled towards the bed and lifting him up into bed with them.

“What time does Minho get to school, Binnie?” Woojin was already giving in.

Changbin pouted, sitting on Woojin’s duvet-covered stomach.

“Around half-eight.”

Chan blinked up at him in surprise, even though his eyes were far from being able to focus yet.

“But your classes don’t start until half-nine…!”

Changbin crossed his arms, looking over at Chan from his perch.

“I know. That’s why I want to go there earlier so Minho-hyung doesn’t have to wait on his own for so long!”

Woojin yawned widely, peering at the alarm clock.

“Even if we want to be there at half-eight, that still gives us at least another half hour to sleep, you little gremlin. C’mere…” He spread his arms wide, inviting Changbin for a hug. Changbin hesitated for a moment.

“Are you sure…?” He asked, trying to do the math of how much time they would need to get ready and go to school himself.

“I’m sure. Can I get my Binnie cuddles now?” Woojin reassured him, and Changbin relented and laid down over Woojin to cuddle with him.

“Hey, I want cuddles, too…” Chan protested weakly next to them and Woojin turned with Changbin in his arms, depositing him in between the two.

Changbin giggled when Chan buried his face against his stomach, blowing a raspberry onto where his pyjamas were riding up. That resulted in Woojin grumbling and covering both Changbin and Chan’s mouths with his hands.

“Shhh. Sleep, you monsters.”

Chan smiled behind Woojin’s hand before licking the palm, and Woojin yelped, removing both his hands, before glaring at Chan. Changbin giggled, Chan’s amused expression enticing him, and Woojin groaned.

“You two are the worst…” He muttered, turning his back towards them and tugging the blanket further up and over his head.

“Noooo, papa…!” Changbin protested, sitting up and clambering over Woojin’s form to be in front of him again.

“Aww, love, don’t be like that…!” Chan mirrored Changbin’s protest, scooting closer to hug his husband from behind, cuddling up to him, while Changbin wriggled his way under the blankets to hug Woojin from the other side.

Woojin didn’t react, making an effort to not let his smile show as he let the two most important people in his life cling to him. He was way more awake than he ever wanted to be at this time of the day, but he didn’t need the other two to know that, just enjoying the warmth of his bed a while longer, cuddled between the love of his life and their child.

For a while, it was peaceful, but after not too long, Changbin grew restless again. He started to let his fingers walk up and down Woojin’s arm that crossed over his stomach, whispering a soft tune under his breath that grew gradually louder, interrupted by pretend conversations between pretend people represented by his small hands. Eventually, he sat up again, tugging the blanket half off Woojin, and walked his pretend people up his arm all the way over his shoulder, before letting them jump over to Chan. He had to lean over Woojin to accomplish that feat, resting most of his weight on him in the process.

“Daddyyyy…!” He stage-whispered so loud it would have woken up a dead person.

“Hmm?” Chan replied, much quieter.

“It’s almost six!”

“Hmm, it is. But that’s ok. Let Woojinnie sleep for a moment longer, ok, baby?”

Woojin appreciated the sentiment, but there was no way in hell he would have been able to stay asleep through Changbin hanging over him like this, his little knees digging into his stomach. He still pretended he wasn’t awake just yet, hoping Changbin would grant him a little bit longer of relative peace. That wish, however, was not granted.

“Chaaaan?” Changbin stage whispered in inside voice again.

“Hmm?”

“How long does it take to drive from here to school?”

“Hmm… About twenty, twenty-five minutes.” Chan answered, with his face half smushed against Woojin’s back.

Changbin clambered down from Woojin, peering at the alarm clock.

“That means we have an hour to get ready if we get up now…” He mused, and Woojin gave up with a sigh.

“Fine, you little gremlin! We’ll get up. Go on ahead and make sure you have everything you need for school packed up…” He shoved lightly at Changbin. Changbin, instead of getting off the bed immediately, leaned forward to hug Woojin first.

“Ok! Sorry for waking you up so early!” And with that, he slipped off the bed and ran out the door.

Woojin groaned again, stretching and rolling onto his back, shoving Chan back in the process. Chan grumbled and adjusted himself so he was resting with his head on Woojin’s chest.

“He’s not sorry, at all, the little monster…” Woojin muttered quietly, blinking his eyes open wide to get rid of the remains of sleep clinging to him.

“He’s not… I wonder if there’s anything he isn’t willing to do for his Minho-hyung…” Chan wondered, snuggling further against Woojin.

Woojin sighed, running one hand lazily through Chan’s unruly curls.

“We’ll probably find out sooner rather than later… Come on, we have to get up, angel.”

Chan mumbled something incomprehensible, and Woojin booped his nose, causing Chan to bury his face into his chest to hide.

“Come on, up, up! We have a little monster to wash and dress and feed and send off to school!”

Chan sighed, rolling onto his back and off Woojin, allowing the older to sit up.

“Five thirty is _not_ my preferred time of the day…” Chan grumbled, and Woojin hummed in agreement.

“I remember a time when you would rarely come to bed before that, though…”

“Those times are long over, and I don’t miss them, at all…!”

Woojin chuckled, getting up to pick out clothes for himself and Chan, throwing the ones for the latter at him as he went.

“Be glad we didn’t adopt a baby like we first planned, then. That would keep us up at all times of the day and night.”

Chan huffed, peeling the t-shirt Woojin had thrown at him off his face.

“We did adopt a baby, though. Binnie _is_ baby.”

Woojin rolled his eyes, hitting Chan in the chest with a rolled-up pair of socks.

“You know what I mean. Come on, get up, sleepy-head!”

Chan groaned again but sat up, gathering the clothes Woojin had thrown him before throwing the blanket off to get up and get dressed.

Woojin was already done by then, moving to the bathroom, when Chan stopped him.

“This shirt?” He wondered, holding the simple, black long-sleeve up.

“It looks good on you.” Woojin shrugged.

“It’s so tight fitting, though…”

“I stand by what I said.” Woojin grinned, winking at Chan, before finally diving into the bathroom, and Chan shook his head fondly, starting to get dressed, too.

 

Getting up at six in the morning became the norm after that, Changbin insisting he wanted to keep Minho company when he had to wait in the morning, long before classes started.

“Woojin… Can Minho-hyung come home with us after school?” Changbin asked some time during the second week, just before Woojin dropped him off at school.

“I can’t decide that, baby. Minho’s mom needs to allow that first.”

Changbin pouted.

“But when hyung asks she doesn’t listen to him or says no… And then Minho-hyung has to spend the whole afternoon in the store on his own…”

Woojin winced internally, parking the car in the almost empty school parking lot before getting out to help Changbin out of the car as well.

“Should I talk to Minho’s mom, then?”

“Yes!”

Woojin sighed.

“Ok… I can’t promise she’ll allow it, though, ok? So, don’t get too sad if she says no, ok?”

Changbin nodded seriously, and Woojin helped him hop out of the car, reaching for his school bag, too.

“Wow, that’s heavy! Can you even carry that?” He wondered, honestly surprised by the weight of the bag, but Changbin just nodded hastily, taking the bag out of Woojin’s hands and putting it on his back.

Woojin was still frowning at the weight of the bag, but Changbin didn’t seem to mind it as he started towards the school’s double doors while Woojin locked the car. Woojin followed Changbin, making sure the child made it safely inside. As always, Minho was already there, waiting for Changbin just behind the doors and welcoming him with a big smile.

“Binnie!!” He rejoiced when Changbin stepped inside, and Woojin smiled when Changbin hurried over to hug him.

“Morning, Minho.” Woojin greeted, and Minho smiled shyly at him.

“Good morning, Woojin…”

It warmed Woojin’s heart that Minho had finally started calling him by just his name.

“Changbin asked if you can come over after school today. Do you want to?”

Minho nodded again, more enthusiastically, but his face dropped quickly.

“Yes, but mom…”

“I know. Should I talk to her?”

Minho’s eyes lit up.

“You would?”

“Of course.”

“Then… please?”

Woojin smiled encouragingly at the two boys.

“Gotcha. Have fun today, and don’t get in trouble, ok?”

“Yes, Woojin, thank you, Woojin!” The boys chorused, and Woojin chuckled, hugging Changbin goodbye and patting Minho’s back, too, before leaving.

 

Woojin managed to catch Minho’s mother at the convenience store, and, laying on his charms thickly, managed to get her permission to pick Minho up after school, too, so that he could spend the afternoon over at their house with Changbin. Knowing both Changbin and Minho, Woojin made sure to agree on a long-term arrangement with Mrs Lee, too, so it wouldn’t be a one-time thing. He had to promise that they’d deliver Minho on time every day so Mrs Lee could take him with her when she left after her shift at the convenience store, but Woojin agreed to that easily.

Still, there was one thing that didn’t leave his mind all day, and it was among the first things he brought up when Chan returned home mid-afternoon.

“Have you noticed how heavy Changbin’s school-bag is these days?” He asked Chan when the other returned from putting a few things away in his home-studio.

“Hmm? Is it?”

Woojin nodded.

“Yeah. Well, it’s not overwhelming, but… I think it’s still too heavy for a seven-year-old.”

Chan thought about it for a while.

“He doesn’t even pack that much, though… There is at most one book, the small folder and his homework notebook, and his pencil-case… that’s it. That’s not that heavy…”

“It shouldn’t be, no. His bag was much heavier this morning, though…”

Chan frowned, thinking hard about what it could be that weighed down Changbin’s bag.

“Well, other than that, there’s only his lunch, and a few snacks…”

“That still can’t be that heavy, though…”

Chan shook his head.

“No… even though he takes quite a bit of food with him…”

Woojin hummed pensively, something not adding up.

“Does he? How much?”

Chan shrugged.

“This morning I packed him a serving of egg-rolls, a filled pancake, two of those fried rice balls he loves, and a sweet potato cake bun. And then his juice boxes. Oh, and he asked me for the left-over spring rolls from yesterday… And I think he took the second sandwich I made him when he didn’t have time to eat it anymore.”

Woojin took the list in and gave Chan a droll stare, causing the younger to blink up to him in question.

“What?” He asked for good measure.

“How many juice boxes did you pack?” Woojin questioned, just to confirm his budding theory.

“…Three… why?” Chan answered carefully, and Woojin saw his theory become even more likely.

“Right… Now, you tell me, all that food… Do you think it would be enough to get _you_ through the day?”

Chan thought about it for a second, shrugging afterwards.

“Yeah, I think so…” He clearly didn’t understand where Woojin wanted to get.

“Ok… And have you ever seen Changbin eat as much as you do?”

Chan blinked in confusion.

“No, of course not, he’s still…” He trailed off, understanding dawning for him, too.

Woojin nodded.

“And yet, you’ve packed him enough food to feed a whole adult throughout the day…”

Chan nodded.

“One whole adult, or…”

“Or two children.”

Chan groaned, facepalming.

“How didn’t I notice that when he kept asking me for more food?”

Woojin hummed.

“Because to us, it doesn’t make a difference, and we are always all too quick to give Changbin everything he asks for without thinking twice about it.”

Chan sighed, nodding in defeat.

“He’s feeding at least half of that to Minho, isn’t he…”

Woojin nodded.

“I don’t doubt that in the slightest.”

Chan chewed on his lip in thought.

“Not that I mind that he’s sharing his food with Minho, but…” He started, looking at Woojin for help, but Woojin didn’t know where he was going with what he was saying.

“I mean, it doesn’t make a difference to us if we feed one more child. But… if it makes Changbin’s bag that heavy… It’s not good for him, he’s still growing! I’m not saying he shouldn’t share with Minho if Minho’s hungry, either! No! I just…” He shrugged, and now Woojin understood.

“Minho never had breakfast when he came here during the summer… It’s possible he still doesn’t…”

Chan winced.

“And with how busy Mrs Lee is… what if he doesn’t get lunch, either, Wooj?”

Woojin sighed in frustration.

“I wouldn’t rule out that possibility… The poor boy…”

Chan started chewing on his lip again, furrowing his brow in thought.

“We could pack a separate lunch bag, for Minho, and give it to him when we drop Changbin off in the morning. That way Minho still gets to eat, and Changbin doesn’t break his back while lugging food for two around with him.”

Woojin thought about it for a moment.

“That could work, but… We have to make sure we don’t overstep our boundaries, either. Minho isn’t our child, and Mrs Lee could easily get offended if we start meddling too much…”

“I don’t give two fucks about overstepping any boundaries! There’s a child starving whom we can help and-”

“Chan!” Woojin interrupted Chan’s explosion. “We don’t know that for sure, and the last thing we need is to antagonize Mrs Lee; we can only help Minho in any way as long as she allows us to. So, let’s not do anything rash, ok? We’ll talk to Changbin and Minho later today, calmly, and figure something out. I got permission from Mrs Lee to start picking Minho up after school so he can spend the afternoons here with us, as long as we bring him over to the store in time for when her shift ends.”

Chan took a deep, calming breath, but kept his teeth clenched.

“Ok… ok. I’m just-… It’s so-… So _unfair_ , because we can help, we can give a child a good home, and it’s made so hard for us, we have to deal with endless visits from childcare services and let a ton of people pry into our lives, and others… not to say that Mrs Lee isn’t doing everything she can for Minho, but-… Aah, _fuck!”_ He broke off with a shuddering breath, dabbing at his eyes with the back of his wrist, wiping off a few tears that were threatening to fall with his sleeve.

Woojin closed the distance between them, gathering Chan into his arms.

“Don’t hug me, I’ll just cry for real…!” Chan grumbled, but his actions belied his words as he wrapped his arms around Woojin and snuggled into his embrace, while Woojin ran a soothing hand through his hair.

“I know, Channie… I know. I want to help Minho, too, I want to give him everything in the world, the same way we would give Changbin everything in the world. We can’t just do that, though. It’s unfair, but we can only do our best, and have to content ourselves with that.”

Chan inhaled shakily.

“I don’t want to content myself with that…”

“Me neither. It’s not like we have a choice, though, unfortunately…”

“I wish we could just… I don’t know, adopt every single child in need out there. And if childcare services want to move in and even monitor the way we fuck-”

“Chan!”

“-If they want to, I don’t give a shit, as long as we can help the kids!”

Woojin rolled his eyes at his unreasonable husband.

“Ok, for the record, _I_ would mind the audience, and as much as I want to help, too, we wouldn’t be able to, we’d do more harm than good if we adopted too many children-…”

He was interrupted by Chan pulling back and putting a finger over his lips.

“Shh. Stop being reasonable, for once, and let me ramble and be unreasonable and rant about the unfairness of life and wallow in misery…”

Woojin chuckled, brushing Chan’s hair out of his forehead, kissing the newly uncovered surface once Chan removed his finger from his lips.

“Ok, then. Ramble on. I’ll listen.”

Chan pouted, leaning back in to hug Woojin, hooking his chin over the older’s shoulder.

“Don’t want to anymore…”

Woojin rolled his eyes fondly, resorting to just standing there and holding Chan.

“Sometimes I feel like I have two children…” He teased after a moment, but far be it from Chan to take offense. Instead, he hugged Woojin a little tighter.

“You know, we should actually get a second child…”

Now, Woojin had known Chan for the majority of his life, so this didn’t come as a surprise to him, at all.

“Agreed. Lets wait until we’ve completed the adoption process for Changbin and are out of the probational period first, though; ok?”

Chan sighed.

“Always so reasonable… Always, always…”

Woojin chuckled.

“One of us has to be.”

“Yeah. And I’m glad it’s not me. It’s no fun!”

 

It turned out that Minho really didn’t get lunch, nor money on his student card to buy lunch in the cafeteria, and no breakfast, either. Chan nearly threw a fit again, only holding on to himself because he was in front of the children.

From then on, they did pack a second lunch, plus breakfast, and snacks, every day, though. Whoever brought Changbin to school would give Minho the extra bag, and the child accepted it gratefully. It wasn’t ideal, but they went behind his mother’s back to do that.

Minho understood without anyone telling him that it was better if his mother didn’t know about this, too, and never breathed a word about it to her, either.

For a while, things went smoothly, Changbin was happy in school, Minho was happy he got to come over in the afternoons, do his homework with the occasional help of an adult when he needed it, and Chan and Woojin were glad they could help, and that the children were happy. Both their therapist and the childcare worker that came to visit picked up on how happy the family seemed to be, too, congratulating them for working so well with each other.

Unfortunately, complications didn’t take too long to arrive at their doorstep again.

It had been a little over a month since Changbin had switched schools when Chan suddenly got a call halfway through the day, a clipped voice asking him to come to the school immediately to see the principal.

Chan was half out of the door when Woojin caught him, asking him what was wrong, and why he was leaving with two different shoes on. Chan cursed, turning back around to put on a matching pair of shoes while filling Woojin in on what he’d just heard through the phone call. Woojin grabbed his things and was by the car even before Chan, claiming the driver’s seat for himself.

They made their way to the principal’s office quickly through the deserted hallways, feeling almost as nervous as if they were still children themselves who were called to that wretched office.

Upon knocking, a secretary called them into the first room, where a very angry looking Changbin sat waiting.

A collective sigh of relief left Chan and Woojin at seeing their child; at least nothing seemed to be wrong with him.

“Binnie? What’s wrong?” Chan was the first to speak to him, crouching in front of him. Changbin sulked, but opened his mouth to answer, just to be cut off.

“Mr Bang. Mr Kim.”

They looked up to meet the steely gaze of the principal, who’d just stepped into the room.

“Mr Jung. You called for us?” Woojin took it upon himself to talk to the man.

“I did indeed. I called you here because your son got into a fight; a physical fight, in which he injured three other boys.”

Chan and Woojin gaped at him, and Changbin huffed.

“I only did that because-”

“There is _no_ \- and I repeat, _none_ , not a single one - valid excuse to hit another person, never mind repeatedly, and even multiple people!” The principal cut off Changbin’s excuse, sending him a stern look. “I understand Changbin transferred here because he suffered from bullying in his previous school. He, more than anyone, should understand that that kind of behaviour is intolerable.”

Woojin sensed it before Chan even knew what he was about to do, taking his hand in his own and squeezing it in warning, silently telling him to stay quiet.

“I understand, Mr Jung…” He answered diplomatically.

“Good. In that case, you’ll also understand that this will be the _only_ warning Changbin will get. If he so much as lifts a hand against another student again, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to find him a new school. We don’t tolerate violence in our school.”

Chan inhaled sharply, and Woojin near crushed his hand in warning.

“We understand, Mr Jung. Thank you for giving Changbin a second chance.”

The principal’s gaze didn’t lose any of its intensity, but he nodded, satisfied, eventually.

“Good. Don’t take it for granted… I still think Changbin should go home for today.”

Woojin nodded in acknowledgement.

“Yes, of course.”

The principal inclined his head.

“Mr Kim. Mr Bang. Have a nice day.”

And with that, he left.

Woojin exhaled slowly when the man left, getting a confused and upset look from Chan, but he shook his head, indicating him they’d talk later.

“Binnie? Come, we’re going home.” He turned to Changbin instead, reaching his hand out for Changbin to take. Changbin stared at it sulkily, deciding not to take it and stand up by himself. Woojin sighed in defeat, leading the way back to the car instead.

The ride home was silent, Changbin sulking, Woojin absentminded, and Chan half angry, half confused. Once they reached home, though, Woojin spoke up.

“Ok, everyone, I believe we have some talking to do. Come over, please?” He called Chan and Changbin over to where he was heading to the living room.

Chan inhaled sharply at Woojin’s authoritative tone, and Changbin looked up at him with what looked like fear. Chan still mustered an encouraging smile for the child’s sake, putting a hand on Changbin’s back to show him he was there, he wasn’t alone in this, before steering him to the living room where Woojin had already sat down. When they entered, Woojin couldn’t help but notice their worried faces, and he forced himself to relax his own expression, realizing he was probably looking far too intimidating.

“Don’t look at me like that, please… I’m not going to bite your heads off or anything like that…” He pleaded, voice gentle, as they approached him and found a seat on the couch, too.

Despite looking a little more relaxed, both Chan and Changbin were still tense, and so was Woojin; he dreaded this conversation as much as the other two, but someone had to lead it.

“Changbin, can you please tell us why you hit the other kids?” Hew decided to ask first and foremost, and go from there.

Changbin crossed his arms in front of his little chest, jutting his chin out defiantly.

“What does it matter, you don’t care anyway!” He answered petulantly, but his words were sharp like daggers. And they hurt like daggers, too.

“That’s not true, Changbin. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t ask.”

Changbin huffed.

“You’re just going to tell me it was wrong, no matter what I say…”

Woojin sighed, really, _really_ wanting to opt out of this conversation. But he couldn’t, especially since he wasn’t sure he could count on Chan in this situation.

“Well, you are partially right, I’m going to admit that. In general, hitting others is not right; I’m not saying never, because there are situations that are exceptions. What I’m trying to figure out here is if what you did falls under one of those exceptions; if it doesn’t, figure out why you did it anyway, and if it’s excusable; and if it isn’t excusable, I still want to understand why you did it.”

Changbin sulked, not answering, and to Woojin’s mild surprise, Chan spoke up, calmly, encouraging Changbin.

“Binnie... Woojin and I both know that you must have had a reason to hit those kids. We know you wouldn’t just go and randomly bully someone for no reason. What we are wondering is what those kids did that made you angry enough that you found the only solution was to hit them. If there are kids like that in your school, who make you feel like that, we should know about them, so we know what kind of environment you are in, and so we can help before things get really bad, like at your last school. But to know that, you have to tell us…”

Well, that was a different approach, and apparently it was one Changbin could work with. At least he answered.

“You can’t help… I’ll just get kicked off the school…” He sighed sadly.

“What? No, Binnie, you got the second chance; you won’t get kicked off the school. Only if you hit another kid again…” Woojin tried to placate him, but Changbin’s stubborn chin came forth again. Woojin had a bad feeling about this.

“Are you trying to tell me that you plan on hitting someone again…?” He tried carefully, and Changbin’s gaze was fire and ice at the same time.

“If they keep being mean to Minho-hyung, I will!” He declared fiercely, without a hint of remorse.

Woojin let out a defeated sigh; this was exactly what he had feared, secretly, ever since Changbin first met Minho in the store and defended him against the other two children who’d been there.

“But… If you fight again, and get kicked off the school, who’s going to defend Minho from then on?” Chan asked quietly, causing Changbin to whip around to look at Chan, mouth agape as he thought about that logic for a moment. Quickly, he came to a conclusion, though, shaking his head at both of them.

“What good is it if I’m in the same school as Minho-hyung if I can’t fight to protect him?”

“No one said you can’t protect Minho, Binnie…” Woojin stated carefully, and Changbin gave him a doubtful look. “You just can’t hit the other kids, or hurt them physically in any way.”

“But…” Changbin started, clearly confused, but didn’t know how to formulate his question.

“In what way were the other kids being mean to Minho, Binnie?” Woojin asked carefully, and Changbin’s gaze darkened again.

“They said mean things to hyung. They even made him cry!”

“That’s really mean of them… But did they hit Minho?”

Changbin glared at nothing in particular, chewing on the word in his mouth before spitting it out.

“No.”

“If they didn’t hit or kick or in any other way physically hurt Minho, you shouldn’t, either. When something like that happens, you can protect Minho in other ways.”

Changbin frowned, and it was clear he would much rather punch the other brats in the face, but since that would get him kicked out of the school and distanced from Minho again, he couldn’t have that. Now, the possibility that there were other ways he could protect Minho… That sounded interesting.

“How?” He ended up asking, and Woojin gave him a thankful smile.

“The best way to protect someone from meanness, is kindness. Not towards the one who is being mean, of course!” Woojin quickly added when it looked like Changbin was about to protest. “But towards Minho. You see, when someone says mean things to Minho, what you can do is be there for him. Take him by the hand and leave from where the ones saying mean things are. Remind Minho that the things they are saying aren’t true. If someone actually hits Minho, go with him to a teacher and tell on them. Supporting Minho is the best form of defense and protection you can give him; show him that you are there for him, by his side, no matter what happens.”

Changbin thought about it, but he didn’t look satisfied.

“But if I can’t get Minho-hyung away? And if they really start hitting him?”

Woojin shook his head sadly.

“You can’t hit them back, Changbinnie… You really can’t. They might try to make you angry enough so that you hit them again, now that you’ve done it once, just so you will be kicked off the school, and they can get Minho alone again. And if that happens…”

Changbin shook his head vehemently.

“That can’t happen! I can’t let them get to Minho-hyung alone again! But… but I also can’t watch if they hurt hyung…”

“If they are hurting Minho, call a teacher, Binnie. Just call a teacher, as quickly as possible. It is really, really important that you don’t hit anyone, ever again, ok?” Woojin looked really conflicted, but then decided to be completely honest with Changbin. “It’s really important, and not just so you don’t get kicked off the school and can keep protecting Minho… I’m going to be completely honest with you, baby… And this is important for you, too, Chan.” Woojin looked up at his husband, who sat up abruptly, not expecting to be called upon.

“Earlier when we were at the principal’s office, I didn’t like that I had to agree with Mr Jung, either. I hated it. But I had to do it, and I couldn’t let you, Chan, speak, because there was _so much_ at stake. Mr Jung knows that you are adopted, Changbin. But he doesn’t know _you_ , he doesn’t know you wouldn’t hurt someone else just because. All he knows is that he has to explain to three sets of parents why their children are coming home hurt. If we’d just blindly defended you, he could have gotten really mad at us, and called childcare services to tell them we are raising you to become a bully. And… As much as it pains me, but we are still in the probational period. I don’t want anything to happen that could make childcare services rethink their decision to let you stay with us, Changbin. This… This is really important. We _have_ to make sure everything goes smoothly, and they don’t find any reason to take you away again. I can’t… I can’t loose you… I can’t- can’t stand the thought of you not being with us anymore and- and going back- I-” Woojin broke off, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling, blinking forcefully in an attempt to stop the tears, but they fell anyway.

Changbin stared at Woojin as if he was seeing a ghost, and Chan got up quickly to sit next to Woojin, tilting his head back down and wiping at the tears.

“Oh, love… Love, hey… Don’t cry, Wooj, please, I can’t see you cry, you know I’m going to cry, too, and we need at least one person who isn’t crying at all times, and it can’t be me, we all know I’m a crybaby… Aw shucks, see, now I’m crying, too…!”

And true, there was no way Chan could hold back his own tears when Woojin was crying.

Woojin pushed Chan’s hands out of the way gently, wiping at his own face and drying his tears before moving to do the same with Chan’s.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t… It’s just… Aww, Binnie, come here…!”

By then, Changbin was crying silently, too, not moving from where he was sitting on the couch a little ways away from where Chan and Woojin were huddled, but they couldn’t have that. As soon as Woojin called out for him, he hopped off where he was sitting and ran over, throwing himself into Woojin’s arms. Woojin lifted him up, pulling him into his and Chan’s laps and wiped at his tears, too.

“I’m sorry, now we’re all crying because of me… It’s ok baby, it’s ok, don’t cry anymore… You too, Channie…” He pressed kisses to both Changbin’s head and Chan’s forehead.

Chan calmed down quickly, too, and Changbin stopped crying soon after. Woojin wasn’t entirely done yet, though.

“I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said all that… But… I’m really scared, and I know, you two are my feisty firecrackers, and I love you both for it, but… I can’t be the only one fighting for our family and keeping everything together at all times. You need to help me; both of you. And sometimes, that means that you have to find a different way to explode than the one that you want to in the moment. Sometimes, that means agreeing with a Mr Jung so he doesn’t get angry, even if you want to punch him yourself, either with your fists or your words. Sometimes, that even means standing still when someone hurts you or someone you love, and taking care of the bruises later rather than giving the mean ones a taste of their own medicine. It su-… It’s super uncomfortable, but sometimes it’s necessary, just so we don’t get really, really badly hurt later.”

Changbin thought about Woojin’s words deeply, loosing himself in thought, but Chan looked downright ashamed.

“I’m sorry, Wooj… I’m really, really sorry… I’ll… I’ll do better. I promise.”

In their laps, and surrounded by their hugs, Changbin nodded solemnly.

“I’m sorry, too… I won’t hit the other kids anymore…”

Woojin pressed a kiss to the top of Changbin’s head.

“Thank you, baby. Remember what I told you about how you can protect Minho, ok? It has to be enough. And if things get bad, tell a teacher, and tell us. Let us grown-ups take care of it, ok?”

Changbin nodded, snuggling against Woojin’s chest, and Woojin held him close.

“And thank you, too, angel…” He leaned over Changbin, pecking Chan on the lips, before leaning his head on Chan’s shoulder. Chan replied by kissing the top of Woojin’s head and wrapping his arms tighter around both him and Changbin, until Changbin spoke up eventually.

“Minho-hyung is all alone at school now… What if someone is mean to him again?”

“That’s unfortunate, if that happens… But Minho has been alone in school before, and he knows how to defend himself, too.” Woojin answered calmly, but Changbin shook his head.

“He doesn’t. He never defends himself. Please, can we go back so I can be there for him?” Changbin pleaded.

“No, Changbin. You can’t go back to school today, you heard Mr Jung earlier. There’s nothing we can do.” Chan answered this time around, and no matter how pleading Changbin looked at them, they could do nothing but shrug their shoulders. It was mean, and it wasn’t their preferred way, but both Chan and Woojin hoped that this would at least serve as a lesson to Changbin and make him think twice before risking expulsion from the school again.

 

Despite Changbin having been sent home early, Chan still went to pick Minho up from school later. It had been agreed upon, and they couldn’t suddenly spring it on Mrs Lee to go pick Minho up when she wasn’t expecting it. Also, Chan wanted to talk to Minho, too; and preferably without Changbin present.

When Minho came out of the school, he looked miserable. Worried, scared, ashamed. He didn’t even lift his eyes from the floor to greet Chan.

“I heard Changbin was kicked out… Why are you here?” He asked Chan quietly in lieu of a greeting.

“Changbin wasn’t kicked out, just sent home early today. And I’m here to pick you up.” Chan answered warmly. That made Minho look up at least a little.

“Really? Can I still… can I still come over? Or are you bringing me to the store?”

“You can still come over; of course, you can. Come on, get in!” Chan reassured him, and Minho climbed into the car.

“Are you mad at me? I’m sorry for getting Changbin into trouble… I’m really sorry!”

Chan checked that Minho was properly strapped in, and then shook his head.

“No, I’m not mad at you, Minho. And neither is Woojin. And it’s not your fault that Changbin got into trouble, either; Changbin is very much capable of getting into trouble all by himself.” He reassured Minho again, giving him a comforting smile before getting into his own seat and starting the car.

“But, it was because of me…” Minho insisted, but Chan shook his head.

“He made the decision to hit those kids himself… But, what exactly happened, actually?”

Minho sighed, looking troubled.

“There is a group of kids from the year above me who always make fun of me and say mean things about me… They make fun of me because I have no dad, and they tell everyone that I have no house, either, because I’m always in the store, and then they laugh and say I’m there because I have to beg for food…”

Chan felt those words like a blow himself.

“That’s really mean of those kids…”

Minho hummed.

“Today they were even meaner…” He answered, barely audible. “They said that my mom should try to sell me to- to ‘my friend’s rich parents’, and buy a house with the money… But then one of them said that no one would want to buy me anyway, that my mom would probably have to pay someone to take me…”

Chan was actually speechless at the meanness some kids possessed.

“That really hurt… and that was also where Changbin got really mad and started hitting them, because I started crying. And then the teacher came and took Changbin and the other three away. They were sent home, too, because they got hurt pretty badly.”

Chan knew he shouldn’t feel like this, and he would never voice it aloud to anyone, but he actually felt proud of Changbin for punching the little assholes for what they had said to Minho. And he was unashamedly proud of Changbin for wanting to protect Minho in the first place, though, and of his determination to put the older before himself.

“Did Changbin get hurt?” Minho’s question startled Chan out of his thoughts again.

“What? No. No, I don’t think so. He didn’t look hurt, and he didn’t tell us anything about being hurt. He was just very angry, and then very worried that the other kids would be mean to you again while he wasn’t there.”

Minho exhaled a breath of tentative relief.

“And he really didn’t get kicked out?”

“No, he really didn’t. He’ll go back to school with you tomorrow.”

They rode in silence for a while after that, until Chan spotted Minho’s sad expression in the rearview mirror, and decided to do something against it; the same way Woojin had told Changbin to do.

“Minho… You do know that what those kids said doesn’t matter, right? They don’t know you, and they think they can be mean for no reason. But nothing of what they said about you is true. You are a great kid, and your mom loves you. And Changbin loves you, too, and Woojin and I really, really like you a lot, too. And not just because you are friends with Changbin, but because you are you, and you are great, and very loveable.”

Minho blinked at him with wide eyes, and Chan smiled back at him through the mirror.

“It would be an honor for everyone to have you as their son; and it is a great honor and joy to have you as a friend, too. Please, don’t think for a moment that any of what those kids said is true. You are perfect the way you are, and you are loved dearly.”

Minho teared up, just as Chan pulled into the driveway of their home.

“Thank you, Chan…” He whispered, swallowing thickly as Chan helped him out of the car.

As soon as Chan opened the door, Changbin came barreling towards them, hugging Minho tightly.

“Hyung! Are you ok? Were they mean to you again? Did anyone hurt you?”

Minho shook his head, though.

“No. They went home, too, and no one else said anything…”

Changbin heaved a sigh of relief and hugged Minho again.

“Oh, good… I was so worried! Come, Woojin is making food for us before we have to do homework!”

Indeed, Woojin was making food for them, and as they ate, the two boys grew louder and more relaxed again, until they were almost back to their normal selves. Homework was already the same as always, and when they were done with it and went to play, it felt like nothing had happened, at all.

It was only later that night, when Chan dropped Minho off at the convenience store, that something changed.

“Chan… can I hug you?” Minho asked shyly.

Chan nearly squealed in happiness, but contained himself.

“Of course, you can, Minho.”

And so, Minho went and hugged Chan, holding on tightly while Chan returned the hug in the same fashion. It really seemed like Minho never wanted to let go, but he did eventually when he caught sight of his mom making her way outside.

“Thank you…” He whispered again, before waving and making his way over to his mom, to go with her.

 

Some time passed, fairly uneventfully, and Chan and Woojin almost thought they could get used to it, when Changbin came home with big news one day.

“I want to learn how to dance. In a dance school.” He declared over dinner, when Minho had already gone home.

Woojin and Chan looked at him in surprise, as the request came seemingly out of the blue.

“Dance? In real dance lessons?” Chan asked, just to confirm he had heard right.

Changbin nodded in confirmation, fixing first Chan, then Woojin, then Chan again with his determined stare.

“Oh… Ok… What brought this on?” Chan continued, and Changbin sat up straighter, starting to push his chin out in what they had long since identified as his trademark show of stubbornness.

“I just want to. It’s pretty, and fun. And I want to learn it.” He declared.

“Ok… well, if you really want to, then I guess we can start looking into dance schools…” Woojin agreed slowly, checking with Chan for confirmation, to see if he agreed.

“Yeah… If you’re serious about this…” Chan agreed, too, but Changbin’s stubborn stance only intensified.

“I really want to. But, I can’t go alone. Minho-hyung has to come with me.”

Chan and Woojin exchanged perplex looks.

“Ok… And why is that?” Woojin asked tentatively.

“Because I don’t want to go alone, and because Minho-hyung wants to go, too. But his mom can’t pay for dance classes. But I really want to, and hyung also really wants to. We really want to have dance classes together. Because we can have them together, because there it’s when you start, you are in the same class.”

Woojin sighed at Changbin’s argumentation, but he already knew he would give in.

“That means that I have to talk to Mrs Lee about enrolling Minho in dance lessons, right…?”

Changbin nodded decidedly.

“Yes. Because she always says no to Minho-hyung, but to you, she says yes.”

And so, Woojin went to talk to Mrs Lee.

“Dance lessons? I’m sorry, but that is a luxury I really can’t afford. What does Minho need dance lessons for, anyway?” was her first reaction.

Woojin smiled pleasantly, swallowing the words on his tongue that were better left unsaid.

“Changbin really wants the lessons, but he insists Minho should come, too. And since Minho seems interested as well… It certainly won’t hurt for him to learn one more skill. And we’d of course pay for everything and drive him there and pick him up, since it was all our child’s idea…” He appeased instead.

It still took quite a bit to convince Mrs Lee to let them enroll Minho as well, but eventually, Woojin’s charm won her over.

And thus, it came that suddenly every Friday became dance day, and with it, another major change happened in their lives.

Every Friday after school they’d pick Changbin and Minho up, the two would do their homework in record time, and then either Chan or Woojin drove them to a local dance school. Dance classes ran late, though, later than the time when they would usually bring Minho to the convenience store for him to go with his mom. And that was how the first sleepover was arranged.

Of course, the first sleepover didn’t have much to do with sleep at all, as the two of them talked throughout the whole night as if they hadn’t seen each other in months and only actually fell asleep in the early morning hours. Since the next day was a Saturday, that wasn’t a problem, though.

Both Minho and Changbin came to live only for the Fridays in their life from then on, anticipating them throughout the whole week. Of course, they spent all their breaks together at school, and every afternoon together at home, but the sleepovers were another story altogether.

From being allowed to take their baths after dance together (and regularly making a mess of the whole bathroom in the process), over playing over dinner together and cuddling on the couch afterwards as they watched a movie or cartoon, to talking throughout most of the night in hushed tones while tucked into Changbin’s bed, sleepovers were the favourite part of the boys’ weeks.

In addition, Minho was absolutely radiant every time they drove the boys to dance class, already dancing in his seat from the moment they got into the car to when they arrived at the dance school. The boy had an unparalleled passion for dance, and it showed more and more with every Friday that passed.

Changbin, on the other hand… He didn’t show as much of a passion. He went to his dance classes every Friday without fail and without ever saying anything indicating any form of displeasure, but he didn’t show the same passion Minho did. After a month and a half, his tiredness after dance classes began to really show. While Minho was as bubbly and ecstatic as always, Changbin became almost grumbly after those classes, admitting to Chan and Woojin that his whole body hurt with muscle pains. But still, he insisted on going.

Chan and Woojin didn’t know what to think about the situation, but as long as Changbin didn’t tell them what he wanted, everything would stay the same. And Changbin did love the sleepovers, after all.

One day, the boys had already been tucked into bed (not that anyone expected them to fall asleep any time soon), Chan passed the door to Changbin’s room and heard a pained groan which made him stop, listening closely to figure out if something was wrong.

“Binnie… You shouldn’t keep doing this if it hurts you so much…” Chan overheard Minho mumble, and a displeased groan from Changbin answered him.

“You love it, though, and I want you to have it, hyung. I’m ok…” Changbin answered him, followed by an exasperated sigh from Minho.

“You know you are the best friend in the whole world?”

“I know.” Changbin answered, and Chan could hear the cheeky grin in his voice, telling him whatever was going on was probably not serious enough that he needed to interfere, and continued on his way. Still, it made him wonder what the conversation could have been about.  

He found out soon enough anyway, two Fridays later. Changbin was uncharacteristically clingy for when Minho was over, clinging to Chan when it was time to take their bath. Minho ended up taking a shower alone, and Changbin begged Chan to help him with his bath, admitting he could barely move from muscle pains once they were alone. Half-way through the bath, Changbin suddenly started crying, silently at first so Chan even missed it, but it got worse quickly, until Changbin was full-on sobbing.

“Oh, baby, what’s wrong? What’s going on, Binnie, why are you crying so much? Hey, talk to me, sweetie…” Chan gently coaxed, trying to comfort a sopping wet Changbin as much as he could.

“I- I hate dancing, daddy… I hate it so much! So, so much…!” Changbin eventually admitted, and Chan’s heart broke a little.

“Oh baby, that’s ok, though… You don’t have to keep going if you don’t want to…”

That was the wrong thing to say, though, apparently. Changbin sat up straight in the bathtub, wiping his tears away quickly even as he grimaced in pain from the movements.

“No! No, I have to keep going! I want to keep going, I really do…!”

Chan frowned at Changbin, finishing rinsing the soapy water off him and wrapping him in a towel before sitting him on the closed toilet lid and crouching in front of him to look him in the eyes.

“Do you really want to keep going to dance classes, or does Minho want to go to dance classes and you want to go so he can go…?”

Changbin averted his gaze quickly, fidgeting with the edge of the towel in a way that told Chan he had hit the nail on the head. Still, he prodded, wanting Changbin to be honest with him.

“Binnie? Is that it?”

Changbin took a shaky breath, and silent teas started rolling down his cheeks again.

“Minho-hyung loves it so much, daddy. And he dances so well! He is beautiful, and so, so happy when he gets to dance… But if I don’t go with him, we can’t learn to dance anymore, and it’s just-... It’s not fair! Hyung _has_ to dance!”

“Oh, baby…” Chan cooed, wiping at Changbin’s tears. “Hey… look at me, baby. If you really don’t want to go anymore, and Minho really wants to keep going, we can find a way, ok? It pains me so much to see you hurting, I don’t want you to hurt. But if Minho wants to keep having dance classes, we can keep bringing him to class, it’s not a problem.”

Changbin looked up with a flicker of hope in his eyes.

“You would really do that?”

Chan nodded.

“Yes, baby, I would. I’ll talk to Woojin, too, but I’m sure he’ll agree. We want both you and Minho to be happy, always, and if that means you stop going and Minho keeps going, then that is what we are going to do.”

Changbin searched Chan’s face for a second for any sign that what he was saying could possibly be a joke, but when he found none, he squealed, launching himself into Chan’s arms. He groaned a little as the sudden movement caused him pain, but ignored it in favour of Chan-cuddles.

Later that night, Chan brought the issue up to Woojin, and as he’d predicted, Woojin agreed with him. Convincing Minho the next morning was a bit trickier, since he wasn’t sure if he should accept it. He was afraid that his mother wouldn’t allow him to keep going alone; not because she didn’t want him to go alone, but because she claimed it was a waste of money. That was where a little white lie from Woojin came in, telling him his classes were all already paid for, anyway. Plus, if he really liked going there, if dancing made him happy, it would never be a waste. They didn’t mind to keep taking him there, either.

Minho ended up agreeing, his love for dancing stronger than his shyness and concerns about what his mother would think or say.

And so, Minho kept going to dance classes, and Changbin didn’t, staying at home instead. All on his own, Changbin was quickly bored, so used to having Minho around all the time, but he didn’t complain, ever, about Minho not being there. He was genuinely happy for Minho, after all. And so were Chan and Woojin, because nothing beat the look of pure joy on Minho’s sweaty face when he came bounding out of the dance studio after class, simultaneously exhausted and full of energy from dancing his little soul out.

“Chan! We have a dance competition coming up!” He exclaimed one day when Chan came to pick him up, waving a slip of paper at him before handing it to him.

“Oh?”

“It’s in three weeks! Can I go? Pleeeeaaase?!” Minho pleaded, folding his hands under his chin and blinking up cutely at Chan.

Chan laughed at his adorable expression, ruffling his damp hair.

“Of course, sweetie. Come, lets get you home so you don’t catch a cold!”

Minho bounced excitedly towards the car, and kept bouncing around when they got home, dancing through the living room in excitement. Chan showed the authorization slip to Woojin, who just nodded silently and signed it without a second thought. Minho didn’t need to know about the attendance fee they paid without hesitating; all he needed to know was that he was going, and it made his whole month.

 

When the day of the competition came, Minho was a nervous wreck.

“You’ll do absolutely fantastic, Minnie, I’m sure of it. What’s most important is that you have fun.” Woojin reassured him when Minho kept fidgeting and clinging to his hand as they waited in line to sign Minho in and mark him as present for the competition, but Minho’s worries weren’t that easily dissuaded.

“I know, and I know I’ll have fun, but what if I slip? Or stumble? Or forget a step?”

“You can always make it look like it was on purpose. And between all the other dancers, no one will notice it, anyway. Besides, have you ever even forgotten a step? Or slipped?”

Minho shook his head. He hadn’t; really hadn’t.

“See. You’ll be the best dancer up there, I’m sure of it!”

Minho whined quietly, peering up at Woojin with pleading eyes.

“I’m so _nervous…_! Can I have a hug, Woojin?”

Woojin’s heart jumped in his chest.

“Of course, you can. Come here.” He crouched down to Minho’s level, letting the boy hug him and holding him close when he hid his face in the crook of his neck.

“You’ll do so well, Minnie; and even if you did make a mistake, we still know you are a fantastic dancer, and we are so, so proud of you, and nothing will change that.”

Minho whined quietly, burying his face even deeper against him.

“Woojiiiinnn…”

“What, sweetie? It’s the truth!” Woojin cooed, and Minho lifted his head, pulling back out of the hug just enough so he could look up at Woojin with a flushed face.

“Thank you…” He whispered, his words full of sincerity, before they had to keep moving in line and Woojin talked to the person behind the desk to fill in Minho’s papers.

“Hyung! Your team is over there!” Changbin greeted them when they joined Chan and Changbin in the audience, pointing wildly in a direction to the side of the large hall they were gathered in.

Minho glanced in the appointed direction nervously, nodding in acknowledgement, before stepping closer to Changbin with a pout on his face. It only took Changbin a second to read his best friend’s face and know what he wanted, hugging him tightly.

“You are the best dancer in the world, hyung. Definitely the best dancer out of all of the people in here, even the teachers. You’re going to do so, so well; I just know it!”

Minho smiled, a little more reassured, but he still looked over Changbin’s shoulder at Chan with an unreadable expression.

“Do you want a hug from Channie, too, Minho? His hugs bring good luck, you know…” Woojin encouraged, and Minho nodded, letting go of Changbin to get his Chan-hug, too.

“Want me to bring you over to your team?” Woojin offered when Minho let go of Chan, and Minho nodded, taking his hand automatically. Before he let go when they reached his team, Minho asked for one more hug, and nothing in the world would have Woojin denying him it.

“Have fun, sweetie. We’ll stay over there, cheering for you, ok?”

Minho nodded, eventually letting go of Woojin and skipping over to his team as they were gathering for stretching. Woojin returned to the seats in the audience where Chan and Changbin were waiting.

“Minho-hyung hugged both of you!” Changbin excitedly remarked when Woojin returned.

“He did, indeed.” Woojin smiled brightly, but not as brightly as Changbin.

“He really likes you, you know. He says if he ever had a dad, he wished he would be like you two. I said we can share, but Minho-hyung’s too shy. I’m so happy he finally asked you for hugs; he _loves_ hugs, and you give the _best_ hugs.”

Not like Chan and Woojin had been looking for a reason to cry, but here Changbin was, giving them several without even realizing, as he continued following the stretching and little practice of Minho’s team off to the side.

And then, the competition began, and Minho’s team’s turn came. Minho was by far one of the best dancers in the team, surprising even Chan and Woojin, who knew that he was _good._

Competition or not, everyone won in the end, in different categories, so no team went home without a medal. Still, Minho beamed with pride when he ran up to Chan, who went to pick him up from where his team was gathered, throwing himself into Chan’s arms.

“We won a medal! Look!” And he shoved the medal almost into Chan’s face, as Chan lifted him up in his arms.

“I can see that, sweetie. And I’m so, so proud of you! You danced really, really well, better than anyone else!”

Minho beamed at him.

“The hyung with the red and blue shirt from my team is better than I am, though. I want to dance like him one day, but he always gets better, so I have to get better, too. But I’m so, so, sooooo happy!”

Chan cuddled him close.

“I’m so, so, sooooo happy that you are happy, too. Shall we go back to Changbin and Woojin?”

Minho nodded quickly, wriggling for Chan to set him down so he could race ahead to where Woojin and Changbin were waiting. He ran first to Changbin, hugging him tightly and jumping around with him, not without stepping on the feet of quite a few people. And then, he let go of Changbin and jumped up at Woojin to be hugged, too. Woojin lifted him up high, too, and Minho squealed in delight, proceeding to show Woojin his medal proudly when Woojin just held him in his arms.

Exhaustion took over quickly now that the adrenaline and nervousness died down, and Minho didn’t ask for Woojin to set him back down, comfortably leaning his head on his shoulder and snuggling close as they waited for the rush to the doors to stop so they could exit more calmly. Before it was even time for them to leave, Minho had fallen fast asleep in Woojin’s arms, and showed no signs of waking up any time soon.

Changbin beamed up at Woojin when he rose with sleeping Minho in his arms to carry him over to their car, contently taking Chan’s hand to not get lost himself in the throngs of people.

Minho didn’t even wake up when Woojin eventually set him down in the car, strapping him in, only stirring when they arrived back at home. He was exhausted, though, and after washing up quickly and a very light dinner, he found himself tucked into bed even before Changbin.

The day of the dance competition was like a switch in the way Minho interacted with Woojin and Chan. From that day on, he asked for and welcomed hugs from the two as much as Changbin did; when they picked them up from school, when they dropped Changbin off with him in the morning or dropped him off at the store to go with his mom in the evening, when they helped him with homework or cuddled on the couch as they watched a movie, when he got a good grade and before and after dance classes, or even just because.

He opened up to them, too, asking for advice or help when he needed it, sharing his concerns and even coming to Woojin just to cry when he felt really bad one day without seemingly any reason.

With every day that passed, it ended up being not just Changbin and Minho who dreaded the time in the evening when they had to stop playing and Minho had to leave, but Chan and Woojin, too. Especially Woojin found it increasingly harder to send the boy off, but he knew as much as they all did that Minho had to go; he wasn’t really their child, after all, even if it felt like it most of the time.


	5. Package-deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This extra long chapter is dedicated to my precious friend, one of the best people to ever walk the earth, a true angel among humans and god among writers, [ashtin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashtin/pseuds/ashtin) , on this here anniversary of her birth. (Once I figure out how to tag her properly and dedicate chapters properly, anyway. Or, well, might just dedicate the whole story to her, she definitely deserves it!) Anyway, everyone go wish Ashtin a Happy Birthday!! 
> 
> I love you, Ashie, Happy Birthday! <3

It became such a usual thing for Minho to come home with them every day after school that the first time Minho declared he couldn’t come with them and his mom would pick him up after classes was jarring to all three of them. It was like something was missing, an important part of their afternoon, in their dynamics, a part of their family, wasn’t there. It wasn’t like when Minho went to dance and Changbin had to spend the time while Minho was out alone, no, because then Changbin still did his homework with Minho, and they played and ate and cuddled together afterwards. Minho simply not coming with them just felt… wrong.

When he did come with them again the next day, Changbin made it his personal goal to make up for the day lost. The kids were extra loud and rambunctious, but neither Woojin nor Chan felt the need to call them out for it. They were just as content to have Minho back there as Changbin and Minho himself were, after all.

Unfortunately, Minho not being allowed to come over after school wasn’t a one-time thing, becoming more frequent, and while Chan and Woojin couldn’t really fault Minho’s mother for wanting to spend more time with her son, it still hurt not to have him there with them, and it hurt even more to see how listless and lonely Changbin became when his best friend wasn’t there with him. It was almost like back when he’d still been in his old school; only almost, though, because at least Changbin got to spend his breaks in school with Minho, and he wasn’t constantly suffering in school.

It wasn’t until Minho missed his first dance class and subsequent sleepover that Changbin truly voiced his feelings, though. When Chan came to pick them up after school and Changbin simply clung to him, not wanting to let go when he met him in front of the school, he immediately knew something was wrong. Minho came trailing after Changbin at a distance, looking as if he’d been crying and having a simply miserable day, but before Chan could ask him what was wrong, he turned away and went to his mother, who was already impatiently calling out to him.

“Minho is not coming with us today?” Chan asked in mild shock, and Changbin shook his head, face still buried against his shoulder.

“He says his mom doesn’t want it to look like she’s abusing your good will. At least that is what Minho hyung said his mom said. What does that mean, daddy?” Changbin looked up from Chan’s shoulder as he asked that.

Chan sighed, debating how he should word that so Changbin understood it.

“It means that his mom feels bad that she is making us take care of Minho, when it normally should be her responsibility to take care of him. We’ve told her many times that it’s ok, but adults are often strange that way.”

Changbin pouted.

“But hyung is happy when he is with us. He’s not happy right now…”

Chan’s heart clenched painfully.

“It is still Mrs Lee’s decision to make, and not ours, unfortunately.”

Changbin let go of him then, climbing into his seat in the car without further prompting. At night, he went to bed without prompting, either, way before his usual bedtime, and Woojin found him there, crying, eventually. He didn’t ask Changbin what was wrong, knowing exactly what it was that was bothering Changbin, and just offered him cuddles, which Changbin accepted gratefully.

It was the only time Changbin cried in front of them for missing Minho. When Minho missed out on more afternoons spent with them, and even dance lessons and sleepovers, Changbin took it with an almost eerie stoicism.

Woojin on the other hand became increasingly worried, both about Changbin and Minho. Especially when he went to drop Changbin off at school at his usual way too early timeslot so he could keep Minho company, but Minho wasn’t there. He waited with Changbin to see if Minho was simply late, but eventually the halls of the school started to fill up, and Woojin left. Changbin told them that afternoon that Minho hadn’t come to school that day. He didn’t come the next day, either, and when he was back on the third day, he practically shied away from both Woojin and Changbin at first, before carefully coming to hug first his friend, then Woojin. He seemed to not ever want to let go of Woojin, too, and Woojin wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Hey, sweetie… Are you alright?” Woojin asked carefully, and Minho hesitated way too long before he nodded.

“I can’t come home with you again today…” He whispered eventually, swallowing thickly.

“Well… I’m sure there will be other times where you can, right?” Woojin tried to cheer the child up, but Minho shrugged his narrow shoulders.

“I don’t know… Mom doesn’t want me to spend so much time at yours anymore…”

Woojin felt his heart sink at that.

“Oh… Should I go talk to her about it?” He asked carefully, but the way Minho shook his head no was almost violent.

“No! No, don’t talk to her! That’s- You can’t!”

Woojin was positively taken aback by that, but nodded placatingly.

“Ok, ok, I won’t, if you don’t want me to. Can you tell me why, though?”

Minho looked down at the floor sadly, but he shook his head as he wrapped his arms around himself.

“Ok. That’s ok, too. Here, your lunch. Channie made filled pancakes for you, and he wants me to let you know he misses you and sends you lots of cuddles. Can I pass his cuddles on to you?”

Minho almost let himself fall into Woojin’s arms again, letting Woojin engulf him in his bear-hugs.

“I missed you, too, sweetie. Whatever you need, you can always come to me and Channie, you know that, right?” He mumbled against the top of Minho’s head, leaving a soft kiss there, and Minho nodded. When Woojin let go of him, Minho took a deep shaky breath and stepped back to let Woojin hug Changbin goodbye for the day, too. As soon as Changbin stepped back, too, Minho took hold of the younger child’s hand and together they watched Woojin leave for the day.

Despite Minho being back, Changbin wasn’t happier for it when he came back home that afternoon.

Minho’s visits became the exception and not the rule from then on, and as much as they all hated it and missed him, they could do nothing but get used to it. From Changbin, Woojin and Chan learned that Minho’s mother no longer worked during the nights at her cleaning job in the hospital, and that Minho actually got to spend his nights at home these days; that were welcome news for them.

Less welcome were the news that Minho was becoming really quiet, according to Changbin, didn’t like hugs anymore half the time, and was always sad but didn’t tell Changbin why. Woojin noticed that, too, when he dropped Changbin off in the mornings, but if Minho didn’t open up to Changbin, he opened up even less to Woojin.

His mom was stressed and became stricter with him, was what Minho told them, and that was it.

“I miss having someone here to play with…” Changbin complained one day, sprawled over the couch and both Chan and Woojin’s laps as they were watching a movie at night, poking lazily at the underside of Chan’s chin. “I don’t like the other kids, though… Kids that aren’t adopted are mean. Except Minho hyung. Hyung is perfect. He is the perfect hyung.” He sighed, dropping his hand from poking at Chan and sitting up between his parents. “I would like to be someone’s hyung, too, I think. I think I could be a good hyung…”

Over his head, Chan and Woojin exchanged a long look; partly scared, partly excited, partly determined, partly ready to run.

“Actually, Binnie…” Chan started, catching Changbin’s attention. “Do you mean that, when you say you would like to be someone’s hyung?”

Changbin gave a determined nod in answer.

“Yes.”

“When you say hyung… Do you mean as a close friend, like Minho hyung is to you, or to an actual little brother…?” Woojin asked carefully, and Changbin sat back, slouching against the back of the couch as he thought about it.

“You mean… A little brother who lives here, with us?”

“Yes.” Woojin answered, and Chan held his breath as they waited for Changbin’s answer.

“If he is a nice little brother… I wouldn’t mind him living here, too. I mean… If he is nice, I would really like him, and I wouldn’t want him to have to go back home at the end of the day, so… It would be nice to have a little brother who lives here, with us.” Changbin mused.

“Are you sure about that?” Woojin asked again, and Changbin nodded.

“Yes. I think about that every time when Minho hyung is over. I always think how much I would like to have someone who doesn’t have to go home, and we don’t have to stop playing. I wish Minho hyung never had to leave, but I know that he does because he has his mom, and while I don’t like it, I understand. But if I had a brother, he wouldn’t have to go back to his parents, because _you_ are his parents, and we wouldn’t have to stop playing so soon, and I wouldn’t have to say goodbye to him all the time.”

“You… You do? That is something you thought about before?” Chan asked, making Changbin turn to him again and giving Woojin time to blink back the tears that had started to fill his eyes at the mention of Minho. He was not taking it well, not having the boy around as often anymore. He really, really missed him, and some days, he wondered if he wasn’t even more affected by his absence than Changbin.

“All the time. But I didn’t want to ask you for a brother, because… Because I know we’re still in the pro- probable period?”

“Probational period.”

“That. And, also… I’m just happy that I can be with you in the first place, and a brother is not like… like a toy or food. So, I didn’t… I didn’t know, I wasn’t sure… You always say I can ask for everything I want, but I didn’t think a brother is something I can just ask for?”

Chan chuckled lightly, smiling at Changbin.

“Well, you’re right, a brother is not like food or a toy. That’s much more complicated, and you can’t just go to a store and buy a brother. But, it is not impossible to get a brother, the same way we got you. It is something we have to think about very carefully, though, because we can’t just go and adopt someone, and then if you don’t want them anymore, give them back.”

Changbin looked almost horrified at Chan.

“No! We can’t do that! It’s… That’s just-… Having a family, and then having to go back, that’s… There is nothing worse. I can’t do that to anybody!”

“See, and Woojinnie and I think like that, too. That’s why we have to think very carefully about what it would mean to have a brother for you, for all of us, before we decide if we want to do that.”

Changbin blinked up at Chan slowly.

“Do you… Is that… Have you… thought about that, too?”

Chan swallowed thickly but nodded.

“Yes. We have talked about that possibility before. And we’ve decided that, if that was something you would want, too, we wouldn’t mind adopting another child.”

Changbin gaped at Chan, then turned to look at Woojin with the same incredulous look, and back at Chan.

“For real?!” He sounded excited above everything else, and relief washed over the parents.

“Yes, Binnie. We have to think about it carefully, though. And we all have to be sure that this is something we all want, with the good and the less good things that will bring with itself. We don’t want to have to send anyone back or even just give false hopes.”

Changbin inhaled sharply, nodding solemnly.

“Ok. But I don’t know what it’s like to have a brother. I’ve never had a brother before… And Minho hyung… It’s different, with Minho hyung.”

“It is. Things will be very different with a brother who lives with us. We’ll think about it from now on, ok? And we’ll tell you everything we can think of that might change, and you can ask us about everything you can think of, too. We have a lot of time.”

 

 

Chan and Woojin were positively surprised to see that Changbin took thinking about the possibility to bring another child into the family seriously. He thought about it deeply, the good and the bad sides. He pondered carefully before giving his answers and voicing his concerns, and in turn, Chan and Woojin proceeded the same way, telling Changbin honestly what they thought and what worried them.

Of course, there were moments where excitement just bubbled over, and all Changbin could think about was how he would play with a brother with a certain toy or game, how he would show him or tell him about something that fascinated him, how they would explore something or what it would be like to go somewhere together. But most of the time, Changbin thought deeply about the pros and cons.

In the end, the pros outweighed the cons for Changbin, though, and not just for him. And with the probational period ending, Changbin becoming their child officially and unwaveringly, they decided to apply for the adoption of a second child with the help of their family therapist and assigned CPS worker.

This time around, the endless paperwork, the pre-inspections and interviews, the background checks and eligibility tests seemed so much easier and passed that much faster, due to them already having gone through the process once and not needing to repeat a lot of it, and much sooner than expected they were scheduled for a first visit at an institution to meet potential candidates. It just so happened that it was the same institution Changbin had lived at, much to his displeasure.

From the moment Chan told him where they were heading, Changbin felt antsy.

“You know we won’t leave you there, right, Binnie? And that no one who works there has any say about you anymore. They can’t tell you to do or not to do anything, can’t put you in time-out, can’t take away desserts or anything like that. You are our child, and they have no power over you. You only have to listen to Woojin and me, no one else. And at no point will you have to be alone or away from us.” Chan reassured him, but before they actually arrived there, Changbin still asked what felt like a hundred times more, just to make sure, that they really wouldn’t leave him alone at any time, and that he really didn’t have to do anything anyone other than Chan and Woojin told him.

Despite loathing the fact that Changbin had to go through the stress of returning to that institution, even if just for visits, Chan and Woojin agreed that if that place still had that effect on Changbin after over a year, it was only right that they try to – for lack of a better wording – save another child from there.

From the moment they got out of the car, Changbin clung to Woojin as if his life depended on it; and to him, it probably did. He was fidgety when Chan went up to the front desk to talk to the worker on duty there, only calming down slightly when Chan returned and told them where he’d been told they should go.

They had decided on adopting a younger child than Changbin - obviously, since he wanted to be an older brother – and preferably a boy, too. Still, they wanted a child who was relatively close in age to Changbin, so they could play together already. And so, it happened that they landed on the same floor they had over a year ago, where they had first met Changbin.

“I hate this place. I really, really hate it.” Changbin whispered, near crushing Woojin’s hand as they walked down the hallway to where they were supposed to meet one of the workers who would show them around. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much Woojin could do to comfort Changbin, except hold his hand and allow him to stay close by.

Again, it was Chan who talked to the worker on duty on this floor, too, and they were shown to room, a play room, where around ten children were gathered.

It was an awkward situation, uncomfortable for everyone, as Chan and Woojin had no idea what they were looking for and Changbin… Changbin knew at least half of these kids from before, and there was a near tangible tension between him and them. The unspoken accusations born of jealousy that Changbin had been adopted rather than them hung heavy in the air, as well as the feeling from Changbin that the others were trying to steal his parents from him. It was only made worse by the familiarity of the room, of the situation, of the faces, even some of the toys, the noises, the unspoken but drilled into them rules everyone stuck to out of fears of repercussions.

It was too much for Changbin, and he had to get out. It was Chan who noticed and maneuvered him out of the room and into the hallway while Woojin talked to the other children.

Changbin seemed to breathe a little easier as soon as they were outside, but still, all he wanted was to hold onto Chan and be held by him, so that was what Chan did. It took a while, but eventually, Changbin stepped back out of the hug, ready to say something. He never got to, though, since suddenly, his name was called.

“Changbin hyung?”

Chan and Changbin’s heads turned to look in the direction of the voice simultaneously, and the boy who’d recognized Changbin took a step back in fright.

“Hyunjin?” It only took Changbin a moment to recognize the boy, too. “Hyunjin, you can’t be in the hallway! You’ll get in trouble!” He whispered urgently, and Hyunjin came a little closer.

“I know! But… I don’t care. I have to go see Jisung. He can’t be alone all day again!” The boy explained, clearly anxious, but still determined.

“Jisung?” Changbin asked, not recognizing the name. The other child, Hyunjin, nodded.

“Jisung is my best friend in the whole world, but he always gets into trouble because he is so loud, and then he has to spend the whole day in time-out. They didn’t let him play all day yesterday, and the day before, and today, and-… I really miss him.” He sniffled, wiping at his eyes, but a few tears rolled down his small face anyway.

To Chan’s surprise, Changbin let go of him and stepped forward to hug Hyunjin tightly.

“Please don’t cry, or you’ll get in trouble, too. Do you want me to make a distraction so you can go to Jisung? They can’t put me in time-out anymore!” He declared proudly, wiping at Hyunjin’s tears. It surprised Chan how gentle Changbin was with the other, and how ready to help.

“R-really?” Hyunjin asked quietly, almost too quietly for Chan to hear, looking past Changbin and at Chan, and then Woojin, who’d just stepped out of the room they’d been in previously.

Changbin nodded.

“Yes. My dads won’t allow them to punish me, ever again! Actually… We are here so we can find someone who will become my brother; do you want to become my brother?” He suddenly asked, but to everyone’s surprise, that made Hyunjin push out of Changbin’s hold and take a few steps back.

“I can’t. I can’t leave. If I leave, Jisung will die here.”

The way he said that, so serious, more serious than any child his age should ever be able to say anything, chilled Chan and Woojin to the bone. Changbin, on the other hand, seemed to understand the sentiment all too well, though, and he didn’t bat an eyelid when Hyunjin turned around and hurried off with only so much as an “I have to go and see Jisung!” as he hurried down the hallway.

Unfortunately, he ran right into a worker who was stepping out of the elevator, who caught him by the arm and didn’t wait a single second to start scolding the boy and dragging him off, down the other end of the hallway.

The shouting, the threats of time-out, and Hyunjin’s weak protests were too much for Changbin, and he darted back into Chan’s arms.

“Can we go home? Please?!” He pleaded urgently, burying his face against Chan’s stomach. Chan wasted no time to pick the boy up, holding him close. Changbin’s distress paired with the scene they’d just witnessed left him shaky, too, and there was nothing he wanted more than to get out of there, too.

“Yes, we can. Let’s go.” It was Woojin who answered, guiding Chan with a hand on the small of his back for comfort as he sensed his husband needed it, quite desperately.

It wasn’t until they were back in the car, on their way home, that Changbin started crying, though.

“Binnie?” Chan turned around in his seat alarmed, and Changbin hick-upped, wiping at his eyes. “Hey, baby, what’s wrong? We’re going home, baby, we’re out of there, and you don’t have to go back there any time soon if you don’t want to…!” He reassured, but Changbin shook his head.

“It’s-it’s not that…” He whispered shakily, trying to stop crying. “It’s- Hyunjin. I-I didn’t think- think that he would still be there. He shouldn’t be there. But… He has to protect Jisung.”

Chan and Woojin exchanged a quick glance.

“Were they your friends, before…?” Chan asked tentatively, but Changbin shook his head, finally getting his tears under control.

“No. Hyunjin is younger, I don’t know him well, and I don’t know Jisung at all. But Hyunjin… He always hid in the hallways, because he got scared easily and the others were so loud all the time, and so we hid together sometimes. But if Hyunjin is protecting Jisung, then Jisung must be very, very nice, even if he’s loud, or else Hyunjin wouldn’t protect him.” He explained, and even though he said he wasn’t friends with them, there was almost a form of fondness for the other two in his voice as he spoke. Neither Woojin nor Chan missed that, and they let it sink in for a moment before Woojin spoke up, finding Changbin’s gaze in the rearview mirror when he had a moment to look up from the traffic at a red light.

“You asked Hyunjin if he wanted to be your brother, didn’t you…”

Changbin let his gaze drop to his lap, fiddling with the end of his sleeves before looking back up, chin pushed forward in his trademark show of stubbornness.

“I like Hyunjin. He doesn’t deserve to have to live there…” he declared, determined. “And neither does Jisung, if Hyunjin likes him.”

 

 

“You’ve been rinsing your toothbrush for over five minutes… What’s on your mind?” Woojin asked as he stepped up behind Chan, hooking his chin over his shoulder and gently taking the toothbrush out of his hand to put it in the holder. Chan sighed, turning around to lean against Woojin and wrap his arms around the older.

“The kid from earlier. Hyunjin.”

Woojin hummed in understanding.

“Binnie says he doesn’t know him, but he likes him… As opposed to all the other kids we met there.”

Chan nodded slowly.

“So, you noticed that, too. I didn’t like the other kids, either… They were scaring Binnie. Hyunjin didn’t, though.”

“Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”

“That Hyunjin is the closest we found to a potential candidate today?”

Woojin hummed, not agreeing nor disagreeing.

“Kind of. I was thinking… Changbin likes Hyunjin, which is better than what we’ll probably get with any other kid. But Hyunjin… I have a feeling he’ll only come as a package deal with that other kid, Jisung – or at least, he should only come as a package deal, if he is so attached to him. So…”

Chan nodded slowly.

“I see. So, you’re thinking… Both?”

Woojin took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly.

“I mean… Could we?”

“That depends on what you mean with ‘could we’… Room? No problem. Finances? Too. Time? I don’t know, to be honest. Nor… emotional capacity.” Chan voiced his doubts, and Woojin sighed.

“Time, I’m pretty sure we would have. If we have time for two kids, we have time for three. Now, emotional capacity… Personally, I think I could love ten kids, but… Loving them alone is not enough. Can we raise three kids, be there for them, have an open ear for each of their worries and a hand to lend them for whatever they struggle with? Do we feel prepared to not just double, but triple our responsibilities, open up to and welcome not one but two new kids, and deal with all their problems and traumata and health issues and personality traits and whatever else will come with them?”

Chan huffed quietly.

“I want to say yes, but… I don’t know. I honestly don’t. I think… I think I want to sleep over the whole situation, and continue thinking about it tomorrow.”

 

 

They thought about it, long and hard. Their hearts said yes pretty quickly, but their heads wouldn’t let them without thinking it through thoroughly. And of course, they had to ask Changbin what he thought about not getting just one, but two little brothers. Brothers who were already very close to each other, who might rely more on each other and not on him, who might even exclude him at first. Brothers who could take a lot of time that Chan and Woojin would usually spend doting on him away from him for a while. So, Changbin, too, spent a lot of time thinking about it. But for him, the decision was much easier.

“It’s a good thing that they have each other. That way they won’t get bored when I’m in school and they are at home, and they will never be alone. And it’s better for me, too, because I don’t know how to be a hyung yet, and that way I will know that they will still have each other even if I can’t be a good hyung yet. And I know you will always have time for me, too, even if they need more of your time at first.”

It wasn’t quite that easy, and they explained it to Changbin, but Changbin was sure of his decision. And eventually, after a lengthy talk with their therapist, Chan and Woojin concluded that yes, they could do it; they could handle adopting two more children rather than just one.

So, they scheduled another meeting at the institution, with the director and their assigned childcare worker, and with a subsequent timeslot to meet the kids. Surprisingly, their childcare worker was pretty easy to convince, quickly being on board with the idea of letting them adopt two children who were already close to each other. The staff from the institution not so much, though, once they learned which two children they were talking about.

“Hyunjin is one thing, but Jisung… He would be best off in a family where he’s an only child, so the parents can focus all their attention on him. He is loud and a troublemaker, he would only disrupt the family harmony and rile the other kids up all the time. We have to keep him in time-out most of the time here, or else we’d never be able to have a quiet minute in this house.”

While the director talked, Chan’s jaw clenched, and Woojin put a warning hand on his knee under the table. Those words were all too similar to what they had been told about Changbin before, and in the end it turned out he was nothing like what they had been told. From what Changbin had told them and the impression they had had from their short meeting with Hyunjin, they chose not to believe that verdict about Jisung, either.

“Can we still meet him and talk with him ourselves? After all, Changbin turned out to be very different with us than what he was like here, too. It might be the same with Jisung.” Woojin reasoned.

“He is in time-out right now, and for a reason…” The director tried to deflect, but Chan spoke up.

“If he is always in time-out and doesn’t get a chance to meet with potential parents, how is he supposed to find that home with parents who give him the attention he needs? You can’t raise a child by locking it away by themselves for most of their life!” Chan’s voice dripped venom, and Woojin’s heart sank with dread, his fingers digging hard into Chan’s leg in warning. To their surprise, their childcare worker spoke up in their favour.

“I think you should let Chan and Woojin meet with the two children. They have thought this through carefully, and should at least get a chance to meet the children properly. They might even find that they don’t match, after all; that is always possible. But we won’t know if we don’t try.”

What followed was a silent stare-off between the CPS worker and the director, and eventually, the director gave in, sending them off to one of the rooms designed for potential parents to meet the children.

As soon as the door to the meeting room with the director closed behind them, Woojin nearly sagged with relief.

“I swear to god, Chan…” He pressed out quietly, and Chan had at least the decency to look a little ashamed.

“Am I wrong, though? Last time we were here, I heard from Hyunjin that it was the third day Jisung was in time-out. This time, they admit themselves that the kid spends most of his time in time-out. We know from Changbin what time-out is like in this place. They can’t just lock the child up in isolation for all of his life!”

“I never said you were wrong! But… Can you please, please try not to antagonize the people we need to convince to let us take the children home? It’s not by telling these people how to do their job that we can help those kids; it’s by biting our fucking tongues and being pleasant while persistent so we can get them out of here!” Woojin hissed back, and Chan bit his tongue.

“You’re right, sorry. It just… You know how I feel about this, about time-outs, about what Changbin went through, and now these kids…”

“I do, and you know I feel the same. Just try to be more sensible, ok, love? At least around these people, when it matters. You can rant and curse all you want when it’s just the two of us.”

Chan exhaled shakily, letting Woojin squeeze his hand comfortingly.

“I’m trying…”

“I know you are. Just please don’t forget it and keep trying, ok?”

They were shown to the room, and waited in relative silence until the door opened again and a worker from the institution ushered two children inside.

“Hyunjin and Jisung, is that right?” She asked, hurrying the children along and causing the smaller of the two to stumble and almost fall. “Stop dragging your feet, Jisung, or you can stay in time-out next time!” She snapped, and the child stood up straight quickly. “You have half an hour today… You already know the procedure.” She concluded, directed at Woojin and Chan, before closing the door behind the kids and leaving.

The two boys stood rooted to the spot shyly, standing close to each other and holding on to the other’s hand tightly.

Woojin nudged Chan, indicating for him to go to them first while he hung back for the time being. Hyunjin had at least seen Chan a bit longer before and might remember him, after all.

“Hey… My name is Chan, and I’m Changbin’s dad. We were here a while ago; do you remember me?” Chan introduced himself, crouching to eye-level in front of the kids and addressing Hyunjin first.

Shyly, Hyunjin nodded, and Chan gave him a warm smile.

“And that over there is Woojin; he’s Changbin’s other dad.”

Hyunjin’s eyes darted to Woojin for a moment, and he nodded, before looking back at Chan.

“Where’s Changbin hyung?” He asked.

“He’s in school right now, so he couldn’t come today. He told us to say hi to you from him, though, and that he can’t wait to see you again. And to meet you; you’re Jisung, right?” Chan tilted his head, addressing the other child, who nodded silently and scooted closer to Hyunjin, almost hiding behind him. So much for a loud troublemaker.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jisung.” Chan smiled, and the child swallowed thickly.

“Nice to meet you, too, Chan-ssi.”

Chan’s smile turned a few degrees warmer, even though he was pretty sure the words might not reflect Jisung’s true feelings, and he almost cooed at how cute the child was.

“You know why we’re here, though, right?” He asked carefully then, and both children seemed to tense up. Still, he carried on. He would rather explain the situation quickly than allow doubts and tension to linger and fester.

“We came in last time because we wanted to find someone who would like to become a little brother to Changbin. And then we met you, Hyunjin, and Changbin told us he would like you to become his brother.”

Next to Hyunjin, Jisung teared up, but he made sure Hyunjin didn’t see it. Chan felt a surge of panic rise within him, not wanting to be the reason either of the children cried. So, he quickly carried on.

“Changbin also said that you wouldn’t want to leave here without Jisung, though; and that if you like Jisung, he must be a good kid. So, we’ve decided to come in and meet you both. We wouldn’t want to separate you two, if you are so close. We already talked to all the other adults who have a say in this, and we made sure that there is a possibility to eventually adopt both of you, together. If you want that, too, and we find we all get along well, over time.”

The children looked confused, tentatively hopeful, and somewhat scared.

“You don’t have to make that decision now, of course. We have a lot of time, and so do you. We don’t want to do anything, or make you do anything, that you don’t want and don’t feel comfortable with. We know that you don’t know us, and that adults can be scary. That’s why we should get to know each other, over time.” Woojin added calmly, approaching them too and crouching next to Chan, giving the children a warm smile.

Jisung wiped at his tears discreetly, while Hyunjin frowned.

“Why… Why us, though?”

The question was not entirely unexpected, and as they did with Changbin, Woojin opted to answer honestly.

“To be honest with you: because Changbin asked. You knew him from before, right?”

Hyunjin bit his lip, then nodded.

“Did you get along well?”

Again, Hyunjin nodded.

“Hyung helped me find hiding spots and defended me sometimes when the others were too loud and mean, and he told them to stop scaring me.”

“Aah… That sounds like Binnie, yes. What about you, Jisung?”

Jisung didn’t answer Woojin’s question, hiding further behind Hyunjin, who answered for him.

“Jisung only came here after Changbin hyung had already left.”

“Ah, yes, Binnie told us that he doesn’t know Jisung yet, too. I didn’t ask my question well, I’m sorry. I meant more like… You two really like each other, right? Would you like to tell me more about your friendship?”

Both children looked at Woojin with surprise, and maybe a hint of admiration in Jisung’s eyes that Chan and Woojin couldn’t place.

“Jisung is my best friend in the world.” Hyunjin eventually stated what he already had the last time they had met, turning slightly to hug Jisung tightly. Jisung leaned into the embrace contently, hugging him back. “And I’m never going to leave him. And I have to grow up quickly so I can protect him and make sure he doesn’t have to go into time-out anymore.”

“That is very nice of you, Hyunjin. But you don’t have to be afraid that we are going to make you leave Jisung. That is the last thing we want. We want to get to know the two of you better, and see if we get along, and if you get along with Changbin, and in the end, if we do and you want that, too, we want to adopt both of you. Never just one of you; ok?” Woojin explained again, in that soothing and calm voice of his that never failed to calm anybody. The children were no exception.

“You… You really mean that?” Hyunjin asked tentatively, his eyes shimmering moist with a hope he didn’t quite dare to feel.

“I mean that. Best friends in the world are never meant to be separated.”

Jisung tilted his head at that, curiously looking up at the two adults.

“Do you have a best friend in the world?” He asked quietly, and they smiled softly at him.

“I do. Channie is my best friend in the world, and so much more. And if anyone tried to separate us, I would be very, very sad, and very, very angry. And I don’t want to do that to anyone else, ever.”

“Do you go everywhere together?” Hyunjin asked then, and Woojin hummed pensively.

“Almost. Not always, but almost. We both have to go to work, and we rarely go together. And there are many short trips during the days that we take alone, too. But we never spend a lot of time away from each other, and we always know that even when we are apart, we will be together again, soon.”

“I don’t want to be away from Hyunjin, even for short times, ever!” Jisung exclaimed in reply, shrinking in on himself and giving Chan and Woojin a fearful look when he noticed how loudly he had spoken. Both of them didn’t even acknowledge it, though.

“Really? So, you never get bored of each other?” Chan asked instead, to which both children shook their head.

“You don’t even want to be apart for five minutes?”

Again, matching shakes of their heads answered him.

“Not even when you’re sleeping?”

Shaking heads.

“Not even… for bath time?”

Nope.

“Or to go to the toilet?”

Again, shaking heads, and Chan gave them an incredulous look.

“Even when you have to go big?” He whispered conspiratorially and made a silly face, as if he was smelling something bad, and it worked to get a little giggle out of at least Jisung as they shook their heads again, which Chan counted as a success.

“Whoa… You are really best friends in the world, hm?”

“Yes!” They answered in unison, and Chan nodded in approval.

“Ok. So, you definitely have to stay together. What do you say if we come back next week, with Changbin? So you can get to know him – know him better, in Hyunjin’s case – and figure out if you can become at least regular friends with him, and maybe brothers some day?”

Behind Chan, Woojin checked his watch discreetly and noticed that half an hour was almost over already. It hadn’t felt that long yet… In front of them, the two boys shared a look and ended up nodding.

“Ok.” Hyunjin declared for both of them, and Chan and Woojin smiled happily back at them.

“Ok, then. So next week, same day, same time, same place. Deal?” He reached a fist out, and Hyunjin let go of Jisung long enough to bump it with his own.

“Deal!” He repeated, while Chan left his fist in the air for Jisung to bump it with his own, too, which he did with another shy giggle.

 

 

Changbin was excited to meet the two boys, barely taking the time to hug his parents before hopping into his seat in the back of the car so they could drive over to the institution on the day of their next visit. He calmed down visibly as soon as they pulled into the parking lot, though, once again clinging to Woojin the whole time until they were led to one of the meeting rooms. Not that he let go of Woojin then, but he held on a little less tightly as they waited.

It didn’t take long before the door opened and Hyunjin stepped inside. He stopped right in front of the door, though, looking around anxiously.

“Where’s Jisung?” He asked in lieu of a greeting.

“He’s on his way. They said he is in time-out again, but he should join us any second now.” Woojin answered calmly, just before the door opened and Jisung stepped in, too.

The smaller boy looked as if he’d been crying, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He smiled when he saw Hyunjin, though, and the two hugged tightly, before resorting to just holding on to each other’s hands when Changbin hopped off the couch he’d been sitting on with Woojin and approached them excitedly.

“You’re Jisung, right? I’m Changbin. Do you want to be my brothers? I would love to be your hyung! I have a hyung, too, his name is Minho, but he doesn’t live with us and I only see him in school these days and it’s really boring to play alone at home all the time, but I don’t like the other kids at school and don’t want to be their friend. But if you were my brothers we could play so much, because we have a really big house with lots of toys and lots of room and two cats and lots of food, because my dads can cook really well, and we have a big garden, too, and papa said we can build a tree-house in the summer holidays, and then when we go back to school you can meet Minho-hyung, too, and we can play all four together during the breaks, and, and-”

“Binnie, slow down!” Chan laughed, coming to crouch next to him when Changbin stopped to breathe for a second. “I know you’re excited, but you’re overwhelming them with so much information at once.”

Changbin grimaced, leaning against Chan but addressing Hyunjin and Jisung.

“I’m sorry, I’m just very excited and a little nervous.”

“You’re a little firecracker, is what you are.” Chan tickled Changbin’s side lightly, before hugging him shortly and letting go. “Do you want to play something with us? We can talk while playing.” He suggested then, and the boys exchanged an unsure look.

“It’s ok if you don’t want to and want a moment for yourselves, too. We understand if you got a little overwhelmed and need a while to calm down.” Chan offered, seeing their hesitation rapidly escalating into anxiety.

“No, please don’t go!” Hyunjin blurted quickly when Chan shifted where he was crouching, looking as if he wanted to get up, and Chan stilled.

“No…?”

Hyunjin shook his head, looking anxiously at Jisung.

“If you go now, Jisung will be sent back to time-out, and… He just got out- I- I mean…! Please, please just don’t go yet! I didn’t mean that you just- Just so- I mean-” Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought he had messed up by insinuating he just wanted them to stay so Jisung didn’t have to be in time-out, and Woojin joined them, exuding his usual aura of calmness.

“It’s ok, Hyunjin, we understand. Even if you really just want us to stay so Jisung doesn’t have to go back to time-out yet, that’s ok, too. We don’t want Jisung to have to go back there, either. All Channie was suggesting was that we give you some room to be together, just the two of you, over here, while we go wait on the other side of the room until you feel ready to talk to us.”

Hyunjin looked up at Woojin incredulously, and Woojin gave him an encouraging smile.

“Is that something you would like? Do you want a moment to yourselves?”

Hyunjin didn’t answer, directing a questioning gaze at Jisung instead. Jisung merely shrugged, though, leaning against Hyunjin and resting his forehead against his shoulder.

“I just don’t want to go back to time-out… That room is so scary, I hate it…! I hate it so much! I don’t mean to be loud all the time, I try-… I try not to be, but it just happens, and then-…” He exhaled shakily, holding on tight to Hyunjin. “It’s so quiet, and dark, and so empty, in that room. And that’s so scary…!” He hick-upped, sniffling quietly against Hyunjin, who wrapped him in a tight hug.

“You get sent to time-out just for being loud…? All these times?” Woojin asked carefully, and both Hyunjin and Jisung nodded.

“That’s not a reason for time-out, though…! That’s mean.”

“Right? It’s not Sungie’s fault that he has a loud voice and gets excited!”

Woojin shook his head, agreeing.

“It’s not. Of course, there are times when you shouldn’t be so loud, but even if you were, time-out is too much for that.”

Hyunjin agreed, then looked at Changbin, who was still leaning against Chan, biting at the sleeve of his own jumper while Chan held him in a loose hug.

“What… What does Changbin get sent to time-out for?” He asked tentatively, and Woojin and Chan exchanged a slightly bewildered look. Before they could answer, though, Changbin did for them.

“I haven’t been in time-out since I left here!”

“You haven’t?!” Hyunjin’s voice couldn’t have been more incredulous, but Changbin shook his head. “Are you lying?!”

“He really hasn’t.” Chan decided to step in, confirming his child’s claim.

“What would he be sent to time-out for, then?” Jisung piped up, looking curiously between them.

“Actually… I don’t know.” Chan confessed. “Since Changbin has never done anything that we couldn’t solve by talking it out, we’ve never had to put him in time-out. To be honest… I don’t really think time-out-… Simply put, I don’t like it. I don’t see the point.”

“So, you never… You never have to sit alone in a scary room?” Hyunjin asked, addressing Changbin, who shook his head.

“I wish I never had to go back to that room…” Jisung whispered, sighing deeply before slowly letting go of Hyunjin’s shirt and settling for just holding his hand as he stepped back. “Is it true that you have cats?”

Chan and Woojin almost got whiplash from the sudden change of subject, suddenly remembering that Changbin had mentioned their cats in the beginning.

“It is true. Their names are Soonie and Doongie.” Chan confirmed.

Jisung gasped in delight.

“Can they be pet?”

“Yes. They are very cuddly.”

“Do you have puppies, too?” Hyunjin asked then, and Chan shook his head.

“No, no puppies so far. We had fish, once, before Changbin came to live with us. But other than that, just the cats.”

Slowly but surely, Jisung and Hyunjin started asking more questions about everything Changbin had ranted to them in the beginning, and while at first Changbin was still invested in the conversation, he soon lost interest and started nodding off, sitting on Chan’s lap.

Amidst all that talking, time flew, and before they knew it their time together was over. As soon as a knock sounded on the door, Jisung tensed up, hastily scooting over to sit next to Hyunjin, so close that their whole sides were pressing against each other. Hyunjin turned a pleading look to Woojin, who was sitting right in front of him, and it didn’t take much for him to understand what the boy wanted.

“Visiting time is over.” The worker opening the door announced as she stepped in, and Woojin got up with a pleasant smile.

“Already! Time sure flies when you’re having fun…! I’m going to miss these two angels…” He sighed, and the worker gave him an incredulous look.

“Don’t be fooled by those little demons. It’s all a façade for potential parents. I’m sure Hyunjin could be alright if it wasn’t for Jisung, but Jisung is the devil. Always loud and uncontrollable. He spends more time in time-out that with the other kids; and that’s for the best!”

If Chan hadn’t been carrying a sleeping Changbin, he might have gone through the roof in that moment. As it was, he merely stepped closer to the two children, angling himself so he stood between them and the door protectively as his father instincts took over. From the way Woojin stretched his fingers to keep them from curling into fists, Chan knew his husband was feeling much the same way he did about the woman’s words.

“Oh, really? If that’s the case, he must have a lot of pent-up energy to release when he gets the chance. And that’s probably what lands him in time-out again, right? What a vicious cycle, poor kid… He told us he’ll have to go back to time-out after our visit, but does he really? He was so well behaved the whole time, really not loud at all – if he had been, Binnie wouldn’t be asleep right now, he’s a light sleeper. I’ve rarely met a child who’s as well-mannered and soft-spoken as Jisung, honestly. Are you sure he hasn’t learned his lesson yet? It breaks my heart to think that this little angel has to go back to time-out now, after the good time we just had. He is such a vibrant child, time-out for so long seems like such a disproportionally harsh punishment for him…”

Chan was only a hair-width away from calling Woojin out for laying it on too thick, but it seemed to do the trick, as the woman shifted around unsure, and positively melted under the kicked-puppy-look Woojin was giving her. She didn’t stand a chance.

“Well, maybe… If Jisung can promise to keep quiet and behave and not sneak into the hallways…”

“I promise! I promise, I promise!” Jisung near whispered, giving the worker a pleading look.

“Well then. I guess you can join the other kids for the rest of the afternoon.” She gave in, and Jisung stared at her with wide eyes, before turning and muffling an excited yell into Hyunjin’s shoulder. He froze immediately after, though.

“Was that too loud? That was not too loud, was it? I tried to not be loud.”

Woojin cooed, laughing, and ruffled his hair gently as he crouched down in front of him.

“That wasn’t too loud, no. Good job remembering to keep it quiet even though you were so excited, Jisung!” he praised the boy, and Jisung smiled shyly at him, but radiant all the same.

“Well, that’s enough, now. I have to get you lot back upstairs. Please remember to make a new appointment at the front desk, if you decide you want to meet with these boys again. I have to go now, there’s a lot to do.” The worker had enough then, and ushered them along. Chan and Woojin hastily bid the two kids goodbye, promising them they would come back, and then they were left alone back in the hallway.

“I swear… If Changbin hadn’t been asleep…” Chan grouched, and Woojin sighed.

“I know.”

“Actually, I’m glad he was asleep… I just wish Jisung and Hyunjin had been, too. The way she talked about them…”

“I know, Chan. I know. Come, lets make an appointment for next week and get out of here.”

Chan huffed, focusing on the sleeping Changbin in his arms to keep himself calm as Woojin led the way.

 

 

Chan and Woojin returned without Changbin the week after, the only slot available for them being one where he was still in school.

As soon as Hyunjin and Jisung joined them in the room, they were able to tell that something was wrong, though, and were secretly grateful that it was just the two of them today, so they could focus fully on the two boys.

“You look as if something is wrong…” Woojin prompted gently after they’d greeted each other and gone to sit on the couches. It was all it took to start the waterworks for Hyunjin, startling the two adults.

“Hyunjinnie? What’s wrong?” Chan scooted closer to the boy, but stopped short in case he didn’t want to have him so close.

“There’s a family who came in yesterday and they say they want to adopt me, but only me. And they are coming back next week.” His tears came faster now. “But they can’t! I don’t want to! I don’t want to leave Jisung! I really, really don’t! I don’t want to go with them, I hate them!” he sobbed harshly, and in his despair, threw himself at Chan, who sat closest to him.

After a second of surprise, Chan held him close, rubbing soothing circles into his back.

“Oh, Hyunjinnie… Hey… It’ll be ok… You know, it’s not that easy to adopt someone, and if you don’t want to be adopted by that family, your opinion will be taken into consideration as well. Did you know that?” He explained quietly, and Hyunjin calmed down a little.

“I-it will?”

“Yes, it will. There are a lot of people who have to agree on the process for it to go through, and your opinion is very important, too. The goal is to give children like you a home where they will be safe and happy. If you don’t feel safe and happy in a home, the child protection services will make sure that you don’t have to stay there; or don’t even get into a situation where you won’t feel safe and happy in the first place. You won’t be placed in a family against your will, baby.”

“I won’t?”

“You won’t. You are not helpless in this. And, well… It sounds mean, but you probably know that better than I do, anyway: just because a family expresses interest in you once, that doesn’t have to mean they will forever once you get to know each other. Just because that family wants to meet you again, doesn’t mean you’ll have to leave Jisung.”

Hyunjin took a few deep breaths, sitting up again eventually, no longer crying. His face was still red and blotchy, though, and Chan wiped at his damp cheeks gently.

“Feeling better now?”

Hyunjin nodded.

“We should go to the bathroom so you can wash your face… Do you want to do that? I’ll come with you, so you don’t get into trouble for being in the hallways.”

Again, Hyunjin nodded, and Chan led him outside. As soon as the door closed behind them, Jisung, who’d been quiet until now, started crying, too, though.

“Jisungie?” Woojin tried gently, scooting closer as the boy sniffled and wiped at his eyes. “Something else has been bothering you this whole time, hasn’t it? Do you want to tell me?”

In a gesture not unsimilar to how Hyunjin had leaned into Chan, just much slower and gentler, Jisung leaned against Woojin as he cried, and Woojin held him carefully.

“I shouldn’t want that Jinnie doesn’t get a family, but I don’t want him to leave…” He admitted eventually between sniffles. “I don’t want to be alone. Everything is so scary, and Jinnie is my only friend… But he deserves to have a family and I feel so bad that I don’t want him to leave here!”

Woojin sighed quietly, soothingly running his fingers through Jisung’s outgrown hair.

“You’re not a bad person for not wanting Hyunjin to leave you, Jisung. It’s ok to feel like that, it’s ok to be scared and not to want to lose your best friend. And Hyunjin feels the same way, too, after all…”

Jisung sniffled again, and Woojin pulled out a tissue, gently cleaning Jisung’s face.

“Do- do you mean it? When you say you want to adopt both of us?”

“Yes, Jisungie. We don’t want to make either of you sad, and we know you’ll be happiest if you can stay together. We don’t know you very well yet, but we already like you, and Changbin does, too. If you like us, too, and would like to live with us, then yes, we want to adopt both of you.”

Jisung hick-upped a few times before answering, wiping at his face.

“I don’t care where I am, as long as I can be with Hyunjin. And don’t have to be in time-outs anymore.” He whispered quietly, just as the door opened and Chan and Hyunjin returned. 

“Sungie?” Hyunjin became alert as soon as he saw Jisung crying, rushing over to him. “Sungie, why are you crying?”

Jisung looked panicked for a moment, looking up at Woojin for help. Woojin merely looked his normal and encouraging self, as far as Chan could see, but to Jisung, it was exactly what he needed.

“I feel bad because I feel like I’m the reason you can’t get a family…” He admitted to Hyunjin, and Hyunjin immediately hugged him close.

“But I don’t want a family if I can’t stay with you, Sungie…! Don’t feel bad, please…”

Jisung exhaled shakily, looking up at Woojin gratefully over Hyunjin’s shoulder, until Hyunjin pulled out of the hug again.

“I’m still scared that that other family is going to want to adopt me, too… What if everyone agrees with them and it’s all of them against me?”

“I don’t think that will happen, Hyunjin…” Chan reassured him, but Hyunjin looked up at him with big eyes.

“But what _if?_ Can’t you do something?”

“The only thing we could do is make it official that we made our decision and that we want to adopt both of you, and try to speed up that process. But it’s still very early and we don’t know you well enough yet, and it could be more harmful than helpful for our case at this point. Besides, what if we find out along the way that we don’t get along well enough? We need to be patient and sure before we make rash decisions. And the other family will do the same, and I think they will catch on pretty quickly if you don’t like them.” Woojin explained patiently, but Hyunjin looked dejected.

“Hey, Hyunjinnie… Listen, baby. This is not a quick process, and not as simple as you think. It’s not like… Like going to the store and deciding what you want to buy, taking it and going home. No. You have a say in this, ok? So, say what you think, whenever you think it matters, and you will be heard, ok? Just the same way Woojinnie and I are hearing and listening to what you say, there are many other adults involved who will listen to you, too, and they will make sure you will be the happiest you can be in the end. You won’t be sent off to live with a family you don’t like.”

Eventually, after much persuasion, Hyunjin believed them, and relaxed. And with him, Jisung relaxed, too, though at that point their visiting time was already coming to an end.

 

 

Another week later found Chan and Woojin returning to the institution on their own once more. They were surprised when only one child entered the room they were waiting in, though, and it wasn’t Hyunjin.

“Jinnie is in time-out…” Jisung clued them in after reading their confused expressions.

“What? Why?”

Jisung sighed, sitting down on the couch with them.

“The other family visited again yesterday evening, and Jinnie got mad at them and started yelling at them and throwing things and… and he said bad words to them. So, he has to stay in time-out all day today. That’s what the Mrs said.”

Woojin and Chan exchanged a look with a bad feeling in their guts.

“And he can’t even come out if he has someone visiting him?” Woojin asked tentatively, and Jisung bit his lip, shaking his head slowly.

“They said that if he doesn’t want to be adopted, then he doesn’t get to be adopted…”

At that, Chan got up, silently, and started for the door.

“Chan…!” Woojin called out after him in a warning tone, and Chan stopped just in front of the door, taking a deep breath.

“I am going to ask - very politely, very calmly - to please be allowed to see the children I came here to see with the intention to get to know better, because I might want to adopt them. Both of them, not just one. And if one of them misbehaved, then that is unfortunate, but _I_ didn’t, and I came all the way here for a reason. Is that level enough?”

Woojin sighed, shaking his head.

“Please do try to say that calmly and politely, Chan… Please…”

Chan didn’t answer, opening the door and closing it exaggeratedly gently behind himself.

Jisung looked up at Woojin with a confused, slightly worried expression.

“Is Chan mad at Jinnie?” He asked, almost in a whisper, and Woojin shook his head.

“No. He’s mad that Hyunjin is not allowed to come see us. He missed you; both of you.”

Jisung nodded slowly, and they sat in silence for a while.

“Is Changbin hyung in school again?” Jisung eventually broke the silence, and Woojin nodded.

“Yes. He is very grouchy that he wasn’t allowed to come with us again, because we only got a visiting slot so early in the day again. But he also doesn’t want to skip school, because that’s the only time he can be with Minho.”

Jisung nodded slowly.

“Minho-ssi is older than Changbin hyung, right?”

Woojin nodded again.

“He is. He is a year older than Changbin.”

“Is he nice?”

“Very nice. He is very precious, and we all love him a lot, and miss him a lot because we can’t see him as often anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because his mom wants him to spend more time at home, and not with us all the time, like he used to.”

“Ah… So, he still has a mom…”

“Yes, he does.”

Jisung nodded to himself as he surveyed the room around them with a bored expression.

“I don’t have a mom anymore, and Jinnie doesn’t, either. I don’t think I ever had one…” He mused quietly, and Woojin felt uneasy.

“Do you want to have a mom at some point?” He asked tentatively, and Jisung shrugged lightly.

“I don’t know. I don’t care, I think. I would like to have a cat, though.”

Woojin laughed quietly, when the door opened and Hyunjin was let inside.

“Hyunjinnie, hey…” Woojin greeted him with a smile, but Hyunjin stayed by the door, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

“Hello…” He answered, too quiet, and Woojin gave him a worried look.

“Don’t you want to come over and sit with us? Chan should be back soon, too.”

Hyunjin held his breath and came over hesitantly, sitting on the far edge of the couch.

“Are you ok? Was time-out bad?”

Hyunjin swallowed thickly, just as the door opened and Chan stepped in. Thankfully his expression was completely neutral, until he smiled at the children and sat down next to Woojin. Only then did Hyunjin answer Woojin’s question.

“They said… They said I won’t be adopted anymore. Ever. Because of what I did yesterday…”

“That’s just what the Mrs said, though, right?”

Hyunjin shrugged, then nodded.

“The Mrs was probably really angry at you, but she is not the one who makes that decision. What you did wasn’t nice, no; you shouldn’t have done that, because throwing things and yelling bad names at people is not what you should do, even when you are angry or scared.  But that’s also not a reason to be told you won’t ever be adopted anymore. What the Mrs told you is wrong, and she was acting wrong, too, for saying that to you.”

Hyunjin chewed on his lip quite roughly as Woojin scolded him, even if he was gentle about it.

“I’m not sorry, though. Not to them, at least.” Hyunjin stated defiantly when Woojin ended his little speech, crossing his arms and furrowing his brows.

“To whom?”

“To those people. At least _they_ don’t want to adopt me anymore!”

Woojin nodded slowly, understandingly.

“Are you sorry to someone else, though? Since you said ‘at least’…”

That caught Hyunjin unaware, and he took a shaky breath, trying to gather himself.

“I’m sorry to Jisungie, only. Because if I can’t be adopted anymore, we can’t be adopted together, and… You deserve a nice family, Sungie… I’m sorry…” He let his head hang dejectedly, and Jisung hopped off from where he was sitting on the couch to climb back onto it where Hyunjin was sitting, hugging him tightly.

“It’s ok, Jinnie… I’m not mad at you.” He whispered, patting his back gently.

“Well… You managed to successfully make that other family not want to adopt you anymore, but…” Chan sighed. “We would still like to have you both. If you don’t want us to, though… Please just tell us nicely, ok? There will be no need to throw things and yell bad words.”

Hyunjin looked up quickly, eyes wide as they flitted from Chan to Woojin.

“You would still want to adopt us? Even though… with what I did? But they said-…”

“They never asked us if we still wanted to adopt you or not, and no one said we couldn’t. They said that just to scare you as punishment for behaving like that. And I am telling you right now that what they said is not true. And as long as you don’t hear that from us, it won’t be true. Ok?” Chan reassured Hyunjin, who gently pushed out of Jisung’s hold, hopped off the couch and ran over to hug Chan quickly.

“I was so scared that you wouldn’t want us anymore, too…” He admitted in a whisper that was clearly meant for no one else but Chan to hear. Jisung probably didn’t, from where he was sitting, and Woojin pretended he didn’t, even if Hyunjin’s words tugged harshly on his heartstrings.

“You don’t need to be scared of that anymore.” Chan brushed Hyunjin’s too-long hair out of his forehead comfortingly, then put a smile on his face. “Now, since we have that all cleared up, shall we play something? I feel like every time we come here, another disaster just struck and we don’t get to do much but cry. And today we even have an hour and a half, and it would be a shame to spend it all crying, wouldn’t it?”

Hyunjin was the first to nod enthusiastically, turning to Jisung to grab his hand and pull him to the box with toys in the corner to choose something they could play with, the four of them. They found a jigsaw puzzle, and even though Chan and Woojin were both immediately sure there were probably at least a third of the pieces missing, they started on it.

Hyunjin was really good at finding pieces that stuck together, while Jisung wasn’t as lucky. To make things easier, Woojin suggested to do the sides first, the pieces easier to find because of their one even side, and it quickly became apparent that there were pieces missing. They decided to skip them, starting on the things that stuck out in the middle of the image, but Jisung quickly lost interest and went back to the toy box to look for the missing pieces of the puzzle. He exclaimed happily when he found one, running back to the table to show them proudly.

“Nice! Well done, Jisungie! Can I see? Oh! I know exactly where that piece goes! Can you see it, too? It’s quite easy!” Woojin encouraged, and Jisung tried, focusing hard on the image forming on the table, trying here and there, until-

It fit, and Jisung let out an excited squeal that had both Chan and Woojin jumping where they were sitting.

“Jisungie… We’re inside, and sitting very close together, you don’t need to yell so loud, ok?” Woojin admonished gently, and Jisung cowered, apologizing.

“It’s ok, sweetie. Well done for finding where that piece goes.”

And thus, Jisung perked up again, running back to the toy box to look for more missing pieces while Chan and Woojin continued to solve the puzzle with Hyunjin.

“Woojin! Look!” Jisung eventually called again, quite loudly.

“What? Oh, two pieces! Well done, Jisungie! Please don’t yell, though, ok?”

Jisung nodded sheepishly but brought the pieces over.

“Can you find where they go?” He asked, extending the pieces to Woojin, and Woojin looked closely before returning one to Jisung.

“This one you can find on your own. The other one is a bit harder; Channie can try finding where that goes.” He declared, passing the other piece on. Jisung accepted his piece, trying to fit it into the puzzle randomly, and Woojin let him for a moment, before calling him again.

“Jisungie… Look carefully at the piece you have in your hand. Can you see something special?”

“Hm?” Jisung tilted his head cutely and blinked, confused, before looking down at the piece in his hand. It took him a moment, but then-

“Oh!” He exclaimed quietly, fitting the piece into the edge, into the last spot that was open, and clapped in celebration. “I finished it!”

“You did. Well done!” Woojin congratulated him, internally melting on the spot at the boy’s cuteness.

Jisung didn’t stay sitting there even a moment longer, though, darting back to the toy box. And so, time went on, with Jisung running back and forth with puzzle pieces he found while Hyunjin and the adults solved the puzzle; though mostly Hyunjin, while Chan did the hard parts and Woojin oversaw the entire scene. The allotted one and a half hours passed all too quickly, and when the childcare worker on duty came to bring Hyunjin and Jisung back to their floor, neither wanted to leave.

“Can we at least finish the puzzle?” Jisung begged loudly, and Woojin ruffled his hair gently.

“Not today, bub, I’m sorry. And-”

“Sorry, sorry! I forgot!” Jisung whispered, already able to tell from Woojin’s tone what he wanted to tell him.

“Mr Jisung wants another round in time-out today, too?” The worker grouched, and Jisung’s eyes widened as he shuffled closer to Woojin, looking up at him fearfully.

“I don’t think that will be necessary. He wasn’t that loud, and he apologized immediately, after all.”

The woman huffed.

“And an apology fixes it, or what? Come on, move, I don’t have all day!” She waved at Hyunjin and Jisung to hurry them up, and they got up reluctantly, but quickly.

“Bye Chan. Bye Woojin.” Hyunjin said weakly, waving as they went to join the worker at the door.

“Bye, sweetie. Remember what we told you, ok?” Chan called after him, and Hyunjin nodded.

Jisung didn’t say anything, pressing his mouth closed into a thin line and just waved, probably scared to be too loud again and end up in time-out, too.

The door closed behind them quickly, and as soon as it did, Chan sagged in on himself, only remaining somewhat upright because Woojin had anticipated it and caught him in a tight embrace.

“How can they talk to the kids like that? How can they be like that, to anyone?” He mumbled against Woojin’s shoulder with a choked voice.

“I don’t know, love. I don’t know. But we’ll get them out of here, at least those two. Let’s not leave them here even a second longer than absolutely necessary. I’ll talk to our CPS and therapist and we’ll figure out the best way to go about this to speed the process up as much as possible, ok?”

Chan nodded against his shoulder.

“Please. Let’s go home; I don’t want to stay here a second longer than necessary, either. You think we can pick Changbin up early today? I need Binnie cuddles.”

Woojin hummed pensively, shaking his head.

“Not today. It’s Thursday, the one day he gets out early enough to play with Minho after school. If you make Binnie leave early today, there will be no cuddles for you, at all.”

Chan grimaced.

“Can we just kidnap these two and Minho and take Changbin and move to the other side of the world?”

Woojin chuckled humorlessly.

“Tempting, isn’t it…”

 

 

The next time they visited, Changbin was able to come with them again, and even though the children were awkward for a moment at first, that quickly passed and they started playing as if they hadn’t done anything else their entire lives.

They started out pretty quietly, but instigated by Changbin, their play soon became louder, and slightly rougher. Jisung looked wary, and Woojin called Changbin over.

“Binnie! Come here for a second!”

He went without question, letting himself fall into Woojin’s arms trustingly as Woojin reached out for him.

“Don’t play so rough, ok? Jisungie is a little scared.” He warned the child quietly, so the others wouldn’t hear him, and Changbin hummed as a sign he’d understood. Woojin kissed the top of his head quickly before letting him go; not without tickling him quickly, though.

Changbin dove out of his hold with a deafening squeal of betrayal, laughing as he dove behind a passing Hyunjin and manhandled him into becoming a shield.

“Hyunjin! Protect me! The bear- The bear is going to eat me!” He laughed breathlessly, while Hyunjin stood dazed for a moment.

“W-what- Aaah!” He squealed, too, when he saw Woojin make tickle-hands, tearing away from Changbin. He was too late, though, and Woojin managed to tickle him, too.

“Nooo! Not Hyunjinnie! Bad bear!” Jisung yelled then, throwing himself at the pile and climbing on top of Woojin to ‘protect’ Hyunjin. Of course, Woojin pretended to be subdued by the smallest of the boys, dropping to the floor and reaching out to Chan for help.

“Channie! Help me!”

Chan went to help him, but in an instant, all three children let go of Woojin and ‘attacked’ Chan, who was quickly wrestled to the floor, sprawling out between the toys and letting his head roll to the side, tongue hanging out.

“Oh no! You killed Channie!” Woojin gasped in mock horror, and the children laughed. Chan didn’t move, though, and quickly, Changbin threw himself on top of his chest, hugging him tightly.

“Daddy, you can stop being dead now!” He demanded, turning Chan’s head back so he was looking up. “Daddyyy!” he whined, squishing Chan’s cheeks, and Chan surged forward, pretending to bite Changbin’s hand before sitting up, engulfing him in a hug and smacking a loud kiss onto his cheek. Changbin giggled, shoving Chan away with an eyeroll, but Chan held on to him a moment longer.

“That’s right, first you lot kill me and then you don’t want me to stay dead. Make up your mind, you rascals! You cute little rascals! Rascals is what you are!!” He teased, accentuating each sentence with a short tickle attack, before letting Changbin roll off his lap, breathless. Changbin stayed where he landed, catching his breath as he used Chan’s lap as a pillow and surveyed the room around them. Chan took the moment to sort Changbin’s disheveled hair, and then doing the same for Jisung, who sat between him and Woojin now.

“Can we draw something?” Hyunjin asked then, having found a bunch of crayons, and Woojin nodded.

“Sure.”

“There isn’t any paper, though…” Hyunjin pouted, and Chan turned where he sat to point at the corner by the couch.

“Can you bring me my backpack, please? I think I have a notebook in there, it’s lined, but there should be some blank pages left.

Hyunjin obliged quickly, and Chan beamed at him.

“Thank you, Hyunjinnie.”

Hyunjin blushed, taking a step back and waiting for Chan to dig his notebook out and rip out a few pages, one for each of the kids.

Hyunjin and Changbin took theirs to the table, but Jisung found a book to use as makeshift drawing surface and laid belly-down on the floor between the table and where Chan and Woojin were sitting on the floor. Changbin and Hyunjin conversed quietly while drawing, meanwhile Jisung was in a world of his own, humming quietly to himself as he drew.

“Chan? Are you good at drawing?” He eventually asked, looking up at Chan from his spot on the floor.

“Reasonable, yes. Why?”

“Can you show me how to draw a cat?”

Chan scooted over, asking Jisung for the crayon, which the child handed over quickly to have Chan demonstrate how to draw a cat for him. He paid close attention, and then took the crayon back to try for himself.

“With how much you like cats, Minho hyung is going to love you, Sungie.” Changbin stated eventually, peeking down from the table to the floor.

Jisung tilted his head questioningly.

“Is that good or bad?”

“Good! Definitely good! Minho hyung is great; you will love him, too!”

Jisung hummed happily, returning to his drawing, which consisted of many, many more or less successful attempts to replicate Chan’s drawing of the cat.

They spent the rest of the time of their visit drawing, and when the worker came to pick Hyunjin and Jisung up, they each hugged Chan, Woojin and Changbin tightly before going.

For once, Chan and Woojin returned home light-hearted after visiting the two boys, and they were positive they’d made some good progress with the boys that day.

 

 

It became somewhat of a routine from then on, to play loud and quite rambunctiously with the boys at first when they visited, letting them use up what pent-up energy they had, and play something quieter afterwards, or draw, or just talk. After a few more visits, Chan and Woojin decided it was time for another meeting with the director, an advisor, a representative of the staff, their assigned CPS worker and the therapist, to discuss their course of action.

Of course, they hadn’t changed their mind on wanting to adopt both children, on the contrary. The children had expressed interest in staying with them, too, asking frequently about them, talking about them, and generally showing better behaviour on the days Chan and Woojin visited, especially afterwards. Aside from the director, who remained convinced they should only adopt Hyunjin, everyone else voted in favour of letting them adopt both children. Thus outvoted, even the director gave in eventually, and they were able to start the formal adoption procedure.

Which meant, their next visits would be accompanied by at least an independent CPS worker, sometimes by a representative of the staff of the institution, and sometimes their own assigned CPS worker.

It was strange, at first, especially for the boys, to have another adult in the room with them. Still, they quickly learned to ignore them, focusing only on Chan and Woojin.

“I drew a picture for you! Look!” Jisung exclaimed one day as soon as he came in, and both Chan and Woojin flinched internally at the volume, even if they didn’t show it outwardly anymore after having gotten used to it over time.

“Inside voice, Jisung.” Woojin warned, and Jisung nodded.

“Sorry. I drew a picture for you. Look, there’s you, and Chan, and Binnie hyung, and Hyunjin, and me, and Soonie and Doongie. I wanted to draw Minho hyung, too, but I don’t know what he looks like, so I couldn’t draw him. But, I drew this tree, so he can be hiding there.” He explained excitedly, and Woojin listened attentively to not get any of the stick figures mixed up in case he had to explain the picture to someone else while Jisung was around and could hear him accidentally get it wrong. He was already unsure if the little one on the left was supposed to be Soonie or Jisung, until Jisung exclaimed he forgot to draw Soonie’s tail and darted off to find a crayon – just to give the figure Woojin leaned towards identifying as Jisung the tail. Well, maybe that was a cat, after all.

“Your people and cats look the same, Sungie.” Hyunjin laughed, peeking over Jisung’s shoulder and making him pout.

“They don’t. The cats have tails and cat-ears.” Woojin quickly defended the drawing, and Jisung nodded.

“And whiskers!”

“And whiskers.” Woojin agreed, even though he couldn’t exactly see any whiskers anywhere.

“You can barely tell the people apart, though…” Hyunjin insisted, giving the drawing a critical look, and Chan decide to step in.

“Yes, you can. What matters most isn’t that, anyway, but that Jisung drew the picture in the first place. And it is very beautiful, and I vote we hang it up on the fridge at home.” He stated, seeing Jisung start to doubt himself and the picture. That promise, however, made Hyunjin gasp.

“I want to draw a picture to hang on the fridge, too! Did you bring paper, Chan?!”

Chan hummed, opening his backpack.

“Of course, bub. There you go.”

“Can I have paper, too, please? Thank you!” Jisung asked quickly, not wanting to be left behind, and he didn’t have to wait at all before Chan handed him some sheets, too. And then, the kids were off, drawing. Hyunjin talked as he drew, explaining what he was drawing at times, but also just talking in general, while Jisung hummed to himself.

Time went on while they drew, interrupted here and there by exclamations or the need to go to the bathroom, and Jisung eventually setting down the crayons and starting to nod off, before Woojin picked him up to bring him to the couch so he could nap there. That woke him up, though, and he insisted that he couldn’t waste time where they were visiting with sleeping! And so, they played games instead, which Hyunjin quickly joined, leaving the drawings behind, too.

Games meant Jisung was allowed to be louder, and he made good use of that privilege, before his earlier tiredness won over again and he snuggled against Chan’s side, dozing off slowly while Woojin started to read a story from a book Hyunjin had found.

As always, time passed too fast, and Chan woke Jisung up gently before the worker would come to bring them back upstairs, while Hyunjin gathered the drawings he’d made to give to Woojin.

“Are you really going to put them on the fridge?” He asked, hopeful, and Woojin hummed pensively.

“If we want to hang all of these up on the fridge, we’ll have to pick up a second fridge on the way home… Let’s say we hang up one from each of you on the fridge, and the others we’ll display somewhere else, ok? Go on, you choose one for the fridge.” Woojin mediated, encouraging Hyunjin to make the choice himself, while Jisung was sure about wanting his first drawing on the fridge. He had other concerns, anyway, clinging to Chan with teary eyes.

“I don’t want to go back, Chan…” He whined quietly, and Chan sighed sadly, pulling him into his lap and cuddling him gently.

“I know, sweetie, and I’m sorry we have to leave already. We’ll be back next week, though, ok?”

Jisung shook his head sadly, though.

“I want to stay with you… When can we come home with you?”

Chan sighed again.

“Soon, hopefully, baby. I don’t know yet, sadly. I really want you to be able to come home with us already, too. But we have to be patient a little while longer, ok? Can you do that for me, love?”

Jisung pouted but nodded, and Chan caught Hyunjin observing them, too. As soon as his gaze met Hyunjin’s, Hyunjin stepped forward to hug Chan and Jisung both.

“You, too, squirt. Be patient for a little while longer, ok? And look out for each other until we come back. Give each other lots of hugs, ok?”

Hyunjin and Jisung nodded, and Chan let them go.

“Visiting time is up.” The CPS worker announced, reminding them, just as the knock sounded and the staff member on duty stood in the door, waiting for the two boys. Quickly, they went over to Woojin to hug him, too, before hurrying after the worker.

The independent CPS worker finished writing something down on his clip-board before giving the two of them a pensive look.

“Excuse me, is something wrong?” Woojin asked him eventually, as they finished picking up their things and what the children had unpacked and not put back in time, leaving the room tidy again.

“No, nothing. On the contrary… It’s just… I sit in on many sessions of potential parents meeting their potential future children, and… If I didn’t know better, I’d think those two were born and raised by you.” He shook his head, going through his notes, and other notes he had clipped to his board. “And looking at their records, and what I’ve seen of them outside of these sessions… I can’t tell when they are actually being their true selves, if with you, or with the other kids upstairs. With you, they are definitely their better, happier, more relaxed selves, though, so…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense to insist on the rest of these scheduled meetings. Not with you, and those two. I’ll go talk to my superiors, I think we can speed up the process significantly, if that is ok with you.”

Chan and Woojin exchanged a startled, but not at all displeased look.

“That… That is most definitely ok with us!” Chan answered for them, to which Woojin could only nod.

“Perfect. How is it looking at home, do you have everything prepared for them yet? I’m thinking the colleague assigned to you could probably come over for a visit sometime later this week to assess the situation, and if everything is in order, you should be able to take the boys home next week, or the week after. I don’t really see my superiors disagreeing; not with the report we have here…” He lifted the clip-board to indicate it, and gave the two an encouraging smile. “I wish we had more parents like you adopting kids, especially those who aren’t exactly the easiest, like Changbin, and Jisung. You’re doing such an important job…”

Neither Chan nor Woojin knew what to say to that, spluttering somewhat incoherently as they parted with the CPS worker. They were positively buzzing on their way home, though, motivated more than ever to finish up the room for the boys; because of course, the two wanted to share a room. They got their own beds, their own desks, own wardrobes, shelves and dressers, and while the room was set up so they each had their own space, they still shared the space in general.

 

 

The week dragged on and passed in the blink of an eye simultaneously, and it wouldn’t have felt real, that they were really bringing Hyunjin and Jisung home, if their childcare worker hadn’t shown up, last minute changes hadn’t been made, and Woojin’s phone hadn’t been ringing all the time with last minute questions, meeting setups, paperwork-requests.

But it was real, and the next visiting day rolled around; the last visiting day, and their first day with Hyunjin and Jisung as part of their family, and for once, even Changbin had agreed on skipping school, just this once, to be there when they brought his new brothers home.

In the end, everything happened quite quickly. Neither Hyunjin nor Jisung found it necessary to say their goodbyes to anyone in specific, holding no particular love for any places, either. Their own, personal belongings were minimal and fit in one shared gym-bag, which hung lightly off Woojin’s shoulder. From the moment they spotted the small family, the two boys clung to Changbin and either one of the parents, whoever was free enough to hold on to them. The procedure to sign the last papers, talk with the last people, receive the last warnings and instructions couldn’t pass fast enough, and then they were off to the car.

As soon as they were in the parking lot, Hyunjin and Jisung quietened down, though. It felt real now, and as exciting as it was, it was also scary. Their saving grace there was Changbin, who’d gone through the same experience before; even though one wouldn’t be able to tell, from the way he acted.

“…And Sungie gets the middle seat, because he’s the smallest, and I sit behind daddy, and Jinnie behind papa.” He finished instructing by the time Woojin unlocked the car, putting the gym bag in the trunk.

“And where does… Where do Chan and Woojin sit…?” Hyunjin asked, confused.

“I’m driving. Want me to help you with the straps?” Woojin spoke up, and Hyunjin nodded, following him quickly to his side of the car.

“And I…?” Jisung asked shyly, just for Chan to put a comforting hand on his shoulder and steer him around to the other side.

“I’ll help you, come.”

Jisung followed, while Changbin opened the door for them so Jisung could climb in.

“My chair has the universe on it!” Was the first thing Jisung exclaimed once he saw the booster seat in the middle, and a small weight fell off Chan’s chest at the boy’s excitement.

“Do you like it?”

“I _love_ it!” Jisung smiled brightly, sitting in the chair proudly and letting Chan strap him in, while Woojin struggled to do the same on the other side, with Hyunjin.

“Babe, do you know how this… Why are all chairs different?” Woojin sighed, and Chan chuckled.

“Just a second, I’ll come over. Binnie, can you please wait until I’ve climbed out again? There isn’t exactly a lot of room in here…”

Changbin whined impatiently, hanging off the door as he waited for Chan to come out of the car again.

“Hurry uuuup, I want to go home and show Sungie and Jinnie everything!”

Chan huffed, straightening his clothes out once he stood outside again.

“Changbin, patience. We’re not going to rush and make mistakes, ok? We want everyone to be safe, after all. Now hop in.”

Changbin grimaced but climbed into his own seat, with Chan making sure he was strapped in correctly before going to figure out Hyunjin’s straps.

Changbin was truly impatient, and he spent the entire ride home chattering animatedly about the house, the rooms, the garden, the toys, the cats, the games, the food planned for lunch… Everything he could think of. Jisung and Hyunjin didn’t get to say a single word, and by the time they finally arrived at home, both looked exhausted. Chan left it to Woojin to help them out of the car while he took Changbin aside for a moment.

“Binnie, listen for a second, ok?”

Changbin looked up with a confused expression at Chan’s serious tone.

“You have to slow down, baby; I know you’re excited, but you have a lot of time to show and tell Jisung and Hyunjin everything. You don’t have to do it all at once. In fact, you shouldn’t. Do you remember how you felt when we first took you home?”

Changbin thought about it hard, and his posture deflated slightly.

“They are probably feeling the same way you did back then right now. Or at least kind of. From the way they look right now, probably even more unsure, overwhelmed, maybe even scared. I know you think there is no reason to…!” He interrupted when Changbin started to protest. “But you’ve had over a year to get used to everything here, to me and Woojin, to the whole situation, already. They haven’t. They had even less time to get used to the idea of leaving the institution than you had, too, and while they were excited to, their situation is still very different. So, try to remember everything you felt when you first came over, and since we don’t know how they feel, assume it’s worse for them, ok? Be the gentlest you can be. They are very sensitive boys, and we don’t want any tears or regrets, ok?”

Changbin bit his lip, nodding slowly and looking… deflated.

“I’m not telling you not to be excited. Just… be more mindful, please. You are a hyung now, and it’s your duty as a hyung to protect your younger brothers, right? That means not just from bullies, but also when life is being difficult. And today might be exciting, but also difficult for Hyunjin and Jisung. Can you do that, Binnie?”

At the mention of his duties as a hyung, Changbin straightened up again, nodding solemnly to answer Chan’s question, and Chan smiled proudly at him.

“That’s my big boy…!” He opened his arms, letting Changbin walk into the hug and kissed the top of his head. “Now, lets go see where papa and the little ones are, ok, baby?”

Changbin nodded, and they followed Woojin and the two other boys inside. They hadn’t gone far yet, still busy taking off shoes and jackets, with which Woojin helped them gently.

“Do you want to eat something first, and see your room later?” He was just asking as Chan and Changbin joined them. The two boys shared a look, and then nodded.

“Ok. I need a moment to heat the food up, but Changbin can show you where to wash your hands in the meantime, and then you can go to the dining room and see where you want to sit and help Channie set the table, ok?”

They agreed silently, and Changbin took off with the boys to show them to the bathroom between the kitchen and living room.

“You slowed Binnie down?” Woojin asked quietly as Chan followed him to the kitchen.

“I tried to. I told him to remember how he felt when he first came home, and imagine it might be worse for them. I hope he keeps it in mind, but he’s very excited…”

Woojin hummed.

“You think it was a mistake to take him to pick them up?”

Chan frowned pensively, then shook his head.

“No. But I feel like we’ll have to slow him down a few more times today…”

“Yeah… I think so, too. Especially Jisung looked ready to cry when I helped him out of the car, but Hyunjin is not far behind. Will you be ok with the three of them until I’m done with the food?”

Chan nodded slowly, wrapping one arm around Woojin in a half hug before letting him go to go the kitchen.

“I’ll figure something out.”

He arrived in the dining room at the same time as the boys, Hyunjin and Jisung trailing dutifully behind Changbin as he showed them the way, their eyes wide as they took everything in.

“Hey there. Hands all washed? Great. Let’s see where you two want to sit, alright? So, this is where I sit, over there is Woojin’s chair, and Changbin sits here. You can choose from aaaall of these spots.” He indicated, but the two hesitated, not moving from their spot, and Chan crouched down in front of them.

“It’s ok if you don’t know where you want your spot to be yet. You can just choose one now, and another at dinner, and another tomorrow… Until you find one you like. It’s not a big forever decision now, ok? And if you want to sit between some of us, I don’t mind moving over, and I’m sure neither does Woojin.”

That helped them relax, and they hesitantly chose two chairs next to each other, between Changbin and Chan. In the meantime, Changbin went to put coasters on the table, but Chan stopped him.

“Binnie, wait… We should put a new tablecloth on. This one looks terrible. Can you lift those for a second?”

Changbin did, and Chan took the tablecloth off, balling it together.

“Do you mind bringing this to the laundry, Binnie? Please?”

Changbin didn’t mind, skipping over to take the ball of cloth and darting off.

“And you two can help me with a clean one, ok?”

They weren’t quite as enthusiastic about the task as Changbin was about his, but having something to do helped them relax, and so Chan stretched out the task of setting the table as much as possible with the help of the children, trying to keep Changbin busy as well so he didn’t finish setting the table in record speed and leave them with nothing to do and an awkward silence to sit in as they waited. Woojin helped, too, calling from the kitchen for help to bring things over. The children helped with whatever they could carry that couldn’t slip or spill and wasn’t hot, while Woojin himself brought the big pot in the end.

“Clean tablecloth? Has it really been two days already?” He joked upon stepping into the room, getting an eyeroll from Changbin and confused looks from Jisung and Hyunjin. Chan took to explaining, seeing their confusion.

“We change the tablecloth often, because someone…” He covertly pointed at Changbin. “Is a very messy eater. So, don’t worry about getting the tablecloth dirty, a few more spots won’t matter. That is not to say that you should strive to be messy eaters, but if you drop something, it’s not the end of the world.”

To that, Jisung actually let out a sigh of relief, while Woojin hummed in agreement.

“Actually, as long as you don’t drop a whole cake, everything is fine.”

A long groan was heard then, as Changbin pouted.

“Papaaaa! That was _one time!”_ He complained, and Hyunjin and Jisung’s eyes widened.

“That actually… happened?” Hyunjin asked, incredulous, and Chan and Woojin nodded.

“Yep. And we have the video to prove it.” Chan grinned, and Changbin whined loudly.

“Can we just eat?”

To his eternal relief, that was what they did, without any major incidents, like dropping cakes. There was only the moment where Jisung nearly fell asleep in his chair and would have fallen face-first into his plate if Chan didn’t hold him up just in time, and that marked the end of lunch.

“I think someone is ready for a nap… Shall we show you your room now? You get to share a room, just like you said you wanted. Also…” Chan stopped them from getting up yet. “Just one thing. Your room is not decorated yet. That’s not because we didn’t have time or were too lazy to, though. But, we thought you might want to help choose how we decorate the room, since it is _your_ room. So, it looks quite empty now, still, but we were planning on looking at things to decorate and start filling it up with later, after your nap. That sound good?”

Hyunjin nodded shyly, while Jisung was more excited about it. Still, Jisung was on the verge of falling asleep, and they quickly led them to their room. That succeeded in waking Jisung up for a moment, the excitement over the novelty of the room stronger than his tiredness for the time being. There wasn’t even a hint of squabble as they chose which side of the room would belong to whom, either, each of them preferring a different side from the get-go. There was also no difficulty in putting them down for their nap, as they were tired enough to want to hurry the process up themselves and fell asleep quickly.

“Do you want to nap, too?” Woojin made sure to ask Changbin as they closed the door to the younger boys’ room, but Changbin shook his head.

“I’ll go play.” He announced, going to his own room.

Chan and Woojin let him, not opposed to a moment of quiet themselves; it would be short enough, after cleaning up the remains of lunch and the kitchen, and they intended to spend every free moment they had on the couch, preferably unmoving.

“And there were three…” Chan mused as he got comfortable on one side of the couch, resting his head on Woojin’s stomach, to which Woojin hummed in answer.

“They are tired now, which I guess is lucky for us, but… They won’t stay tired forever. And I can already tell they will be a handful, in so many ways. We’re going to be so busy from now on… Just… What were we thinking?!” Chan wondered, chuckling incredulously as he turned his head to look up at Woojin.

Woojin hummed again, thinking about his answer as he ran his fingers tenderly through Chan’s hair.

“Were we thinking? Or were we just… Loving…?” He answered eventually, a smile playing on his lips, and Chan rolled his eyes.

“That’s so corny… And actually perfect. Let me go write that down…!” He tried to get up, but Woojin caught him and pulled him back down, half on top of him.

“Later. Rest up now; we’re going to need it.”

Chan groaned, but surrendered. In all honesty, yeah, Woojin was right. Resting sounded fantastic, actually. Now that all the stress from the previous weeks – months – had fallen off all of a sudden, with the kids finally at home, he was about ready to collapse pretty much like Hyunjin and Jisung had. Not that he could, because now the stress of having two new children to learn about and help settle in started, but still. For just one hour, maybe, hopefully… For one hour, they could rest.


End file.
